Tekken: The Fourth Season of Man
by dru.solis
Summary: Julia Chang must find the strength buried deep inside her and stand with Jin Kazama against an evil that has laid dormant for centuries, a creature whose approach signals the fourth season of man ... and its end.
1. Ogre Freed

**Prologue**

"Haliksa'i! Listen now to my story. So it was that Ogre, God of Fighting, taker of men, and devourer of souls was cast down. In the belly of Mother Earth, was Ogre sealed. Kokyanwuhti, the Spider Woman, bound him in webs and, with her eight arms, rolled a massive boulder to block the path to his prison.

"The darkness alive slept, defeated but not dead. The taker of men cannot be killed. He slumbers in Mother Earth, awaiting the fourth season of man. His breath is fire and his gaze is terrible to behold. The blood of the people killed in battle feed him; he drinks the blood from the red soaked ground and grows strong.

"At the end of the fourth season, he will come. The devourer of souls will awaken and once again roam the earth. Light will fade from the world. Taiowa, the Sun and the Great Creator, shall hide his face and the hochichvi pendant will be the only light upon the earth."

-fragment of "The Destruction of Tuwaqachi*"

* Tuwaqachi: Hopi word for "the fourth world". According to Hopi legend each time the world became too corrupt for the creator to tolerate, he would gather up the righteous people and guide them to a safe haven underground, destroy the world and create a new world for the faithful. The Hopi consider the present day earth the "fourth world."

*** * ***

With an explosion of dust, the seal of the rock wall blocking the tunnel entrance broke. The man with the jackhammer switched it off and stepped back so the crew with crowbars and ropes could pry open the ancient doorway. It was eased down and the man with the jackhammer squatted at the edge of the trench. A soft whistle of surprise and satisfaction came from his lips. "Looks like you found the right spot, Doc."

"Looks like it." Doctor Arlene Henklemann stepped forward. The sun was low, at just the right angle to always be in her eyes no matter how she moved. The tunnel seemed to bubble like tar. A large hazel eye, like a god's, seemed to float just above the black.

'All tricks of the light,' Arlene told herself. The bubbling was caused by her eyes trying to focus on the darkness while the sun was trying to whitewash her vision, and the eye was obviously hers, reflected off the inside lenses of her glasses. It was nothing to worry about.

The hem of her dusty tee-shirt fluttered in the warm Guatemalan wind. It was the first breeze they'd had since they first arrived nearly three weeks ago. In all that time, not a single cooling wind had stirred the camp, and not a drop of rain had fallen. Now, in the last few hours, wind had begun to filter down the rock walls framing the shallow valley, and in the distance were dark anvil heads ready to have the hammer of the gods strike out sparks over the earth, the resounding clang echoing for miles in peals of thunder.

One of the workers looked up at the sky. "Maybe the gods are angry," he said to nobody in particular.

"In some places, rain is a blessing," Arlene replied. She knew many of the other archaeologists and workers were wary about this excavation. Nobody, not even the natives, had known this valley contained a temple. There was no "X" on the ground, nothing to distinguish this patch of dirt from any other. If the first week hadn't been spent using ground-penetrating radar to map out the valley, the hidden temple may have gone undiscovered for many more centuries. The radar specialist had been instrumental in locating the tunnel entrance. Had it not been for some wealthy sponsor, they might have had to do without the assistance of the remote sensing. With it, they had been able to narrow their dig sites to ones of almost certain payoff.

Arlene examined the stratigraphy of the trench. There were at least two distinct time periods distinguishable from the color and consistency of the dirt, perhaps as many as four. If the slab had once been above ground, then it had been placed long enough for earth to completely engulf the stone and level the ground. Arlene's throat went dry.

"What's next?" someone whispered in her ear. "Will you make water pour from the rocks?"

"Step back and maybe you'll learn something," Arlene whispered back to Alan Forester. "All right," she called out to everyone else. "It looks like a storm's on its way. I want all the equipment packed up and stored away as soon as you can. I want the dirt samples categorized, labeled, and covered. We're on the verge of a great discovery, my friends, but excitement is no excuse for being sloppy. So let's make sure we get everything done swiftly and correctly. I'm going to look inside. With any luck I'll be back with enough information that we can all get a better idea of what tools we'll need to get started with the temple excavation. Let's go."

She clapped her hands twice and workers jumped to their tasks. "Mr. Forester, care to go for a walk?"

"After you," he said, handing her a torchlight.

*** * ***

"How'd you do it?"

Arlene didn't slow down. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. If I knew we were going to be this lucky, I would have bought a lotto ticket before we left. You may fool the natives and the grad students you've got out there digging holes and shifting through buckets of dirt that your research led you here, but I know better."

"So you say, Alan."

"Hey, who helped defend your theory that the ancient pueblo were descendants of the Aztecs to the department head of archaeology? Who was the first to accept your idea that Jacqueline Turner was wrong in her assertion that part of the ancient pueblo civilization became cannibalistic and terrorized the rest of the population into submission?"

"Anyone with half a brain should be able to see that the Hopi are linguistically isolated from all the neighboring tribes. Their language is even called Uto-Aztecan. How much more obvious can that be? And who would believe that a civil war wouldn't have left behind signs of a battle?"

"Anyone with a quarter of a brain would know you're trying to avoid my questions."

"You know, there are some things you just shouldn't dig into."

"You're in the wrong line of work if you believe that."

Arlene sighed. Alan was an archaeologist of people, no doubt about that. He could read them like layers of dirt, shift through their buried secrets, and identify the artifacts from rocks. He knew the payoff sites, the places to hit hardest. With Arlene, he had tread the site of her life for long enough that he did not have to dig long to find what he wanted. She decided to caved in.

"All I can tell you," she said, "is a stack of high-altitude images were delivered to my desk almost a year ago. They were what gave me the idea to look deeper into this area of Guatemala. I don't know how they got to me, but whoever sent them has much more than curiosity invested in this excavation. The University was given a grant by some company in Japan - Mishima Financial or something like that. That's why we have the equipment we do."

"Why would a company in Japan be interested in your work?"

"I don't know." Arlene ducked as the ceiling dipped down. "I'm just happy to be able to search for more evidence for my theory that ancient Pueblo Indians are descendants of an Aztec offshoot."

"You know you have to stay objective in all of this. We're not here to prove anything, just to record our findings and conjecture on the nature of our discoveries."

"If I remember correctly, you gave a speech once that objectivity does not exist. Objectivity was simply the filtering of a bias to an average, and as such was a bland interpretation of an individual's truth."

Alan smiled in the edges of the light. "Touche."

"Besides, who knows how many more years I would have had to toil away in my office until I could get funding like this?"

"And have you recently had dealings with a tall man with horns and a pitchfork?"

"Hush, Alan. I know damn well you're just as excited to get out of your closet of an office and in the dirt as I am."

"What do you think we'll find?"

"I don't know. The Aztecs practiced cannibalism, believing that eating the flesh of their enemies would not only transfer their enemies strength to them but ward off any retaliation from the remaining tribe. If the ancient pueblo Indians were once part of the Aztecs but didn't agree with the cannibalism and traveled north, maybe the Aztec wanted these people back for some purpose. Maybe a part of the Aztec culture followed them."

"And we'll find out what part that was?"

"Perhaps." The edge of the torchlight began to climb up from the ground as they approached a dead end. "Looks like the end of the line. I just want to take a closer look for a few minutes and then we'll go back." Arlene touched the rock and her eyes widened. "Alan, look at this anachronism." she shined the torchlight on the wall. "See the layers and the color. It's different than the other surrounding rock. This is sandstone."

"What is a single piece of sandstone doing here?"

"Exactly. It's almost as though it was used as a door to seal something off." She lightly hit the wall a few times. "We're close to something amazing, but I don't think we'll be able to know anything until we break through this wall."

Something wrapped around her neck as an object was butted against the back of her head. She dropped the torchlight as she staggered. Five glowing dots peered out from the darkness. Light exploded and gouged her eyes. She flailed her arms blindly as rough hands seized her until something hard and blunt snapped down on her cheek. Her body went limp for a few seconds, paralyzed by the pain.

The original light that had blinded her was turned off, and a flare sizzled to life. In the red glow, stood five people in what looked like full riot gear. The two in the back even had the high impact resistant shields strapped to their forearms. Ski masks hid their faces and complicated looking goggles rested on their foreheads. Their body armor would have been invisible in the darkness, a livid color bordering on black. On the left chest plate of each of the figures armor were the letters "TF" painted in burgundy. All except the leader, who gripped a pistol in his right hand, held assault rifles.

"Doctor Henklemann. We knew you'd come through for us. We'll handle the rest of the excavation."

"Who are you people? We are part of a sanctioned excavation by the University of Utah and the Guatemalan government. You have no right to -"

The tall figure standing in front of Arlene simply raised his right hand and Arlene silenced her protest. "I'm glad you live up to your reputation as a quick learner, doctor. Your assistance is no longer required. Your friend, though, needs to learn to relax a bit." One of the other soldiers struck Alan on the side of the head with a rifle butt which knocked the fight out of him.

"If you're going to kill us, there'll be repercussions."

"Don't try to intimidate us, doctor. Had it not been for our employer, you would never have made it down here." The leader continued to guard Alan and Arlene as the team behind him began setting up what looked like tripods connected to car batteries.

"Rope is secured," one of the masked men said. "All we got do is pull."

"Good." The leader pulled Arlene towards the waiting men and then jerked his head towards the dead end. One of the figures jumped forward. The rest of the team pulled back as the demolition expert attached what looked like chewed gum to the boulder and inserted a wire. After joining the rest of the team behind the riot shields, the demolition expert pressed a button and a spark shot down the line. The explosion blew out the middle of the boulder, pelting the shields with rocks.

While most of the boulder's bottom stayed wedged in the opening, the top half crumbled and provided enough space for the team to slip through one at a time. The first one in switched on the searchlight on the side of his rifle barrel and swept it around the room. Apparently satisfied that the area was secure, the scout motioned for the others to enter.

*** * ***

There was nothing but darkness and the odd feeling of weightlessness. It was like being underwater, where the world shifted in and out of focus and sounds were muffled and yet seemed to be right next to you. Time moved like a dying moth: short, intermittent flutters before stopping completely. And so it stayed, silent and unmoved, until one day voices echoed down the rock tunnel, distorted and faint. Time twitched.

"Who are you? We are part of a sanctioned excavation by the University of Utah and the Guatemalan government. You have no right to -"

There was a dull crack like blunt metal striking bone and the woman's voice stopped for a moment. When she spoke again, it was low and pained. "If you're going to kill us, there'll be repercussions."

A male responded. "Don't try to intimidate us, doctor. Had it not been for our employer, you would never have made it down here."

An explosion shook the rocks, and the top half of the wall crumbled. Time and air stormed through the opening, desperate to escape the centuries of isolation. From somewhere in the tunnel came the sound of retching and between the gagging was the woman's voice. "Sweet Jesus, what is that smell?"

Light slashed through the cold darkness, hovering on translucent strands of spider silk turned gray with dust. A man wriggled his way through the opening, breathing through a strange tube, and swept the light around the tomb. He waved at the opening and other figures entered, one of them held the shoulder of a nauseated woman. More lights circled the room.

The woman placed her forearm in front of her nose. "You're stepping on artifacts."

"Shut up." Flares were ignited, covering the chamber in an unearthly sparkling red.

It watched them: figures moving in slow motion through its murky vision. The red light and the haze that covered its vision made it seem as if it was looking through blood jetting in water, a spreading cloud which danced lazily, waiting for the predator to explode from the screen again to ram teeth through the soft underbelly. Faces turned up, and time began to beat its wings again.

"Oh my God," the woman whispered, barely breathing.

Fear. It was wonderful to taste it once again. It was like smelling salt, blowing away the cobwebs in one acrid, almost tangy breath. The figure called out to them with its mind. Approach, approach and free me.

They circled, marvelling at the figure above them. The skin had wrinkled and hardened, pulling the flesh away from the teeth, setting the mouth into an eternal grin. Spider webs wrapped around the figure like a shroud. Even dangling in a half-fetal position, the figure was massive. It must have been seven and a half, maybe eight feet from heel to the top of its head. The rib cage was large enough to enclose an average man's entire upper body, waist to head. As shrunken as they were, the atrophied muscles of the hanging figure still resembled those of a body builder. It stared at the intruders with large, vacant eye sockets.

One of the soldiers yelled out in pain. He reached to his neck and wrenched away what looked like a black stone worn smooth, except the stone had legs. His body armor seemed to ripple as the dark bodies of spiders swarmed over the soldier, crawling between the joints of his armor and injecting biotoxins into his blood. The leader shouted something and pointed, but his message was lost amid the soldier's screams and flailing. The soldier bucked and writhed, tightening his muscles as if the resulting tension might thicken his skin enough to prevent the spiders from puncturing it. His finger squeezed the trigger and the woman's body jiggle and jump in a crazy looking dance. The wounds mushroomed out, spattering blood and fragments of internal organs onto the hanging figure.

With all the excitement, it was an easy observation to miss. When the blood splashed onto the figure's mouth, it was almost immediately absorbed. The muscles expanded slightly, and the skin began to soften, almost like a dried sponge had been dropped into water. The black clouds covering the eyes lifted, and dust was expelled from the throat as the chest began to heave like billows. Had it not been for the gunshots, the crackling of the heavy jaw would have been heard as it yawned open. Flexing its muscles, the ogre began to stretch the spider webs. The webs snapped away and Ogre fell to the chamber floor.

The spiders were everywhere now, seemingly pulling themselves from the rocks themselves, but they were weak. They could no longer pierce Ogre's skin, but the bullets might. He should escape, but the soldiers had not yet realized another was among them. Ogre twisted one soldier's neck with a satisfying snap. Lifting him up to his face, he opened his mouth and breathed, taking in the red mist that seeped from the man's skin. Muscles regained their mass, skin closed up rejuvenated, no longer thin and brittle. The desiccated body hit the ground with the sound of dried wood. A soldier collapsed from the spider bites, and the others ran for the exit. Tripping over themselves, the soldiers scrambled to the chamber opening. Falling, rising, clawing at their bodies.

The woman was left behind, her body propped up in the center of the chamber by what looked like a stone bench. From each corner, a pole in the shape of a snake rose as though to guard the treasures on the bench: a round shield with elaborate decorations and an artifact that resembled an open face knight's helmet. Ogre stepped forward and looked down at her.

Her breath came in punctuated gasps; her heart fluttered like a dying moth. The spiders were leaving her alone, knowing she could do nothing more. She tried to turn her head as Ogre reached out a hand to her face. She stiffened as her mind was opened. Through it, Ogre saw the long tunnel she had walked to discover its tomb, the students and natives on the surface who were categorizing buckets of dirt and labeling shards of pottery. It saw the hem of her dusty tee-shirt fluttered in the first breeze they'd had since they first arrived nearly three weeks ago. Above were dark anvil heads ready to have the hammer of the gods strike out sparks over the earth, the resounding clang echoing for miles in peals of thunder.

A voice echoed through the hallways of her brain. "Maybe the gods are angry."

"In some places, rain is a blessing," she had replied.

Laughing, Ogre placed his hand over her face. A blessing .... Ogre felt the woman's warm breath against his palm, the erratic pulsing of blood in her veins. Time was slowing down for her; the moth struggling toward the light at the end of a tunnel, propelled sporadically on her breath. The light winked and disappeared as the tunnel caved in.

Ogre wiped the brains from his hand. This one had not been a warrior, not worth absorbing, but there was another. A warrior woman who had defeated him a long time ago. It was she who had imprisoned him beneath the earth, bound like a sacrifice and guarded by her children. "The Spider Woman," he thought as he sneered and brushed spiders from his body. A goddess from the north, guardian of the corn people - thieves. She protected those who stole his cuauhxicalli, the eagle vessel, the sacred bowl that had fed him.

The memories of the last soul he had absorbed before being reawakened swam in his mind: Toltecatl, a priest of Tenochtitlan. When he had been brought before Ogre, his collarbone had been fractured and blood was clotting in the back of his brain, but he did not show any fear. Indeed, he had seemed eager to be absorbed. It had been Toltecatl's soul which gave Ogre enough strength to break the blood magic which had bound him to the Aztecs' will; Toltecatl's spirit had grown strong over the years of winning the favor of gods, and that strength had become Ogre's. With Toltecatl's knowledge, Ogre acted out his role as the "Night Drinker," absorbing the souls of his victims until Toltecatl's voice spurred him northward to confront those who had taken the sacred relics. Even now, it sought vengeance against their descendants.

Curling a massive hand, Ogre stared at his fist. He had failed the first time; he had underestimated the guardian, Kokyanwuhti. The first time he attacked, it had been unexpected. The people of the cliffs had been petrified at Ogre standing atop the homes they had carved out of canyon walls. The feast had been large; most of the Hisatsinom had been consumed in the first few days. A few escaped further north, but they wouldn't have gotten far had it not been for Kokyanwuhti.

It would be different this time. This time, he would not waste his time on broken prisoners or men who fought out of fear. No, this time he would seek out only the most powerful warriors and absorb their strength. Their training would be his. Kokyanwuhti would not just fight him, but the experience of the greatest fighters spanning several lifetimes. Smiling, he strapped the shield to his left forearm and donned the helmet with an air of dark majesty. Throwing out his arms, Ogre roared a challenge for the earth to try and trap him. The earth shook, but did not fall. Ogre was free.


	2. The Hopitu

Part I: Legends

"Mom, is this really necessary? You know I'm not interested in them." Julia Chang winced as her mother tugged her hair.

"It's not breaking into your schedule that much," Michelle said. "You'll still get outside before the sunrise. Besides, you used to love having your hair put up like this."

"That was a long time ago. Still holding out on the hope that I'll get married some day?"

"A mother can dream. Besides, if you go to the festival in boring old pig tails, the boys may have a different set of questions for you that you'd be less interested in answering."

Julia knelt patiently as Michelle finished tying her hair into a figure eight around the bent willow and pull the wooden frame from the whirls of her squash blossom hair style. As a child, Julia had wanted to wear her hair like this all the time, delighting in the novelty of her plain chestnut colored hair whirled into the shape of sunburst squashes on both sides of her head. Occasionally, Michelle would capitulate although it was supposed to be reserved for festivals to denote a maiden of marriageable age. Now it only served to bring unwanted attention from boys, like taping an ad for the classifieds on her back.

'But it's tradition', she reminded herself. 'Besides, it makes mother happy, and I owe everything to her.'

"There," Michelle said, giving Julia's shoulders a gentle squeeze.

Julia looked in the mirror and saw Michelle standing behind her with the sad smile of a mother watching her child growing up. It was times like these where Julia could almost forget that she been forsaken by her biological mother, where she could almost believe Michelle was her true mother ... where she could almost feel truly loved for herself. She managed a half smile back at Michelle. "Maybe today my luck will change."

"Perhaps."

'Yeah, right,' Julia thought as she stepped out into the cold darkness.

She went straight to the edge of the village, a quiet area of nothing but burnt sienna rocks and sky. It was not yet dawn on Sunday morning, and the night had been cool and cloudless. There was a chill in the air, uncharacteristic of an Arizona summer, a coldness that froze voices in throats and burned eyes, a wind that seemed to pull organs from the body leaving nothing but a strange emptiness in the soul. Normally she relished waking up before the sun, just as the animals scurried to their underground burrows.

She enjoyed that moment where the world held its breath at the cusp of light and shadows - a balance point as thin as a single ray of light. And then with a stirring of the wind, the balance would tip and the sunlight would spread its hazy glow like orange jam across the toasted crust of the Painted Desert. Today though, the sun hid beneath the mauve blanket of night as if to keep its golden warmth all to itself.

More than the cold, it was the sky that disturbed her. Not a single cloud wisp marred its surface, and that meant the rain ceremony had failed. For the first time in Julia's eighteen years, the Niman festival had ended with the Katsinam scheduled to return to their winter home in the San Francisco peaks without a sign to ensure the survival of their descendants. According to the older Hopitu, this had happened a few times in the past and was attributed to some error in the ceremony, which is why they had extended the festival one more day in hopes of correcting whatever error had prevented the rain. The Katsinam, the spirit fathers, would be of no use if they abandon their children. Although a small part of her wouldn't be surprised if they did, but the Hopitu needed all the help they could get. The rain was scant enough, with even less water there was little chance they would live to see the next summer.

"And then," Julia whispered, "the world would die." For the Hopitu were the only people who remembered the commands of Masaw, guardian of the fourth earth and the underworld. They were the last of those who followed the old ways, who kept the cosmos in balance, who revived the earth and sun. The other tribes had inhabited other lands where life was easier like the tropics or had bent nature to suit them and had lost the power of their faith. They had lost their path and failed their duty to the Creator.

Crouching at the edge of Second Mesa, Julia peered down the sheer rock face that seemed to be the only effective barrier separating the Hopi tribal lands from the larger and ever encroaching Navajo reservation that surrounded them. There was a long history between the two tribes, not all of it good. It was the Navajo who gave the name Anazasi, "Ancient Enemy", to the ancestors of the Hopitu - a name that was only recently being shed in favor of the neutral "ancient pueblo people." Perhaps it was that knowledge that prevented Julia from consenting to their right to self-determination and acknowledge their desire to be known as "Dineh" instead of "Navajo."

'Why call them the name they want when they don't do the same for us?' Julia thought. But then she chided herself for being childish. 'Besides,' she thought, 'what if I was really one of them?' She could never be sure what tribe she had been born to before being abandoned in one of the myriad ruins in Canyon de Chelly. Had Michelle, her adoptive mother, not been trespassing on Navajo land at that time Julia would never have survived. Michelle had always said she had followed a vision to find Julia. From the whispers that reached her ears, Julia understood Michelle's decision to follow that vision had been against the Hopitu Tribal Council and her decision to adopt Julia had caused her to lose considerable status with the unmarried men.

It was a huge decision for a nineteen year old, and more than once Michelle must have wondered what her life could have been like if she had let Julia die as an infant and just lived her own life according to her plan. If anything it spoke volumes of Michelle as a mother, a woman, and a human being. On paper everyone knew the right answer, but how many would actually sacrifice their future to give a baby nobody else knew existed a chance to live? At that moment, Michelle would have known that once she picked up the infant, she couldn't pass it on to anyone else because she had already defied the Elders just being there.

If there was one thing that knowledge taught Julia, it was her life belonged to Michelle. Michelle could have walked away and been bothered only by pangs of her conscience when she was alone at night. Instead she chose to have a constant reminder of her decision that day. She gave her future to Julia. Not because of who I was, Julia often thought, but because of who she was.

In the distance, drums were pounded. The ceremony was starting.

*** * ***

The villagers stirred in the center plaza, and Julia turned back towards the kiva, a massive hollowed out chamber of earth. A fire danced at its center, making its only opening look like a window to the underground as light flickered at the entrance. It was to the underworld that Taiowa had guided the worthy to be saved from the destruction of the previous three worlds, a place of warmth and safety, a place for the Ancients.

In a few moments the Katsinam would leave the kiva and begin their trek to Nuvatukya'ovi, the snow capped San Francisco peaks where they would live for the next six months. Katsinam, messengers, ancestors. How strange it must be to see time pass. How, in a few years, so many native cultures, like trees that have been for centuries, were felled to be examined and shaped by men who did not care for them. Across the land, only stumps and the deepest roots - traditions buried underground - remained.

From the kiva, Eototo, the Katsina Chief, emerged to lead the procession to their home. His white dome head swiveled side to side, and the three holes that served for his eyes and mouth gave him the expression of child-like wonder. The red, black, and turquoise sashes fluttered at his side as he danced in the plaza to the beat of a drum. More Katsinam joined him from the kiva. They raised their hands to give the villagers one last blessing until they returned six months later.

Julia looked to the horizon in hopes of seeing storm clouds forming. In the distance was the slightest of bit of haze. Someone shouted, and Julia turned to see one of the Katsinam throw off its mask.

The lithe figure seemed to explode from the procession as it unravel the colorful robes in one swift motion. The white face seemed to mock the Katsinam, a reminder that they were not the only ones who could put on masks and become more than they were. Red hair streamed from behind the cat mask, and the ninja charged toward the crowd with a knife that ran along the length of her forearm. The crowd parted to leave only Michelle in the ninja's path.

"Mom!" Julia lurched forward through the crowd.

Michelle was already moving though. She leapt back from the knife, hands raised, and batted aside two more swipes. The ninja seemed to realize that she no longer had the element of surprise and crouched down. The fingers of her left hand formed a third leg which she used for balance as she slunk in a slow circle. The eyes of her mask looked like tildes and betray none of her intentions, neither by blinking nor focusing on her target.

"Stay back, Julia," Michelle said without taking her eyes off her opponent. "Kunimitsu - I thought I told you to never come back to our lands."

Kunimitsu said nothing, but moved lightly on the balls of her feet, shifting the weight effortlessly from one leg to the other. She hid the knife behind her back as she circled, bringing it out only to twirl between her fingers before hiding again. She took half a step forward and then leapt sideways, shooting out her left hand. Dust flew towards Michelle's eyes, and she blinked hard as she stumbled back. The knife was raised like a gavel ready to strike down its death sentence in a stroke of finality.

A rock struck Kunimitsu's ribs, causing her body to twist in pain and her knife to go wide of its target. For a moment, the ninja's eyes seemed to glow as she turned towards Julia. Neither one moved as they assessed the threat of the other. At first it looked like Julia would be disregarded and the attack on Michelle would continue unabated, but then the ninja lunged at Julia with the frightening speed of a diamondback striking back at an animal who had stepped on it.

The single fang flashed and only a quick step back kept Julia's throat intact. Her body seemed to move on its own, not through training but fear, doing little more than backing up.

'Move your hands,' she told herself. 'Dodge, don't become mesmerized by her movements, fight back.' But her body didn't listen; her eyes stayed locked on the knife and she moved only in response to it. She didn't even see the left hand strike that hit her chest. A sharp pain radiated out from her sternum, and she thought perhaps Kunimitsu had pulled out another knife and jammed it between her ribs.

It felt as though her heart was being ripped out, and in the fury that only pain can bring, Julia grabbed Kunimitsu's wrist, dug her other fist deep into the ninja's gut, and wrenched the hand away. A quick shove caused Kunimitsu to stumble back and allowed Julia a short time to recover from the chest pains. Kunimitsu wasted no time in renewing the attack, and slashed right at Julia's eyes.

With a move that was as much as a dodge as a strike, Julia slipped the knife and delivered an elbow to Kunimitsu's sternum before jerking her arm up and backhanding her masked face. A half step back led her safely away from the predicted knife strike. Pushing off her back foot, she doubled Kunimitsu over with a straight armed punch. Spinning, Julia maneuvered behind her and shoved both arms hard into the ninja's shoulder blades. Kunimitsu's flailed her arms like a wounded bird trying to take off.

Michelle was waiting for the pass. Dropping to one knee and twisting the knife hand up and over her head, Michelle flipped Kunimitsu onto her side, and the small backpack Kunimitsu wore slipped off. Another pull locked the ninja's arm straight behind her. A sound like splintering wood came from the ninja's arm as Michelle brought her fist down hard just above the elbow. Kunimitsu screamed as her hand was forced open by the pain. The knife fell from her fingers and danced on the hard dirt in two small hops, pirouetted on its tip, and laid still.

Michelle continued to hold the broken arm and placed a knee high on the ninja's back, forcing her to the ground. "I warned you, Kunimitsu, never to return to my homeland."

Kunimitsu grunted heavily, trying to reach her elbow with her other hand. "I - I had no choice. The pendant ... he needs the pendant or it's all wasted."

"Who? Kazuya?"

"Kazuya is dead ... finished off by Heihachi. Please, my arm."

"What does Heihachi want with the pendant?"

"My arm, please, my arm ...."

Kunimitsu collapsed to the ground as Michelle stepped back. She stretched a feeble hand out, closing her fingers around the knife's handle. Julia stepped forward, but Michelle grabbed her arm and shook her head. Kunimitsu struggled to sheath the blade left-handed, and then settled back on her haunches.

"Now," Michelle said, "what does Heihachi want with the pendant?"

"It comes," she said. "Awakened by blood, summoned by souls, the tournament shall call it."

"What are you taking about?"

Kunimitsu's head lolled back, exposing the thin milky column of her neck. She laughed. The hollow sound rattled from her throat like vacant turtle shells. "The Darkness lives. The God of Fighting walks again."

"The God of Fighting ... Ogre - it can't be. Why are you laughing? It will kill you too."

This only made Kunimitsu laugh even harder until the pain seemed to overcome her. Kunimitsu's laughter died and her body stilled. Very slowly, she removed the band around the back of her head and pried her left hand beneath the mask at the curve of her jaw. With a sound like mayonnaise being stirred, the mask peeled away. Bits of flesh stretched like taffy, snapped, and dangled loosely from the mask. The putrescent air clung to her decayed face.

The collective gasp of the villagers seemed to steal the air away from Julia, and she was unaware that she had momentarily stopped breathing. There was no air, no wind, and no ground. There was nothing but the face. The flesh looked almost like melted caramel, globbed up in some areas and worn away in others exposing the fine whiteness of her bones.

"You see," she said, fixing eyes empty of all but a hazy molten gold upon Michelle, "why I do not fear? The Manji have no souls."

"Then you could help us fight it."

Kunimitsu laughed again. Her eyes didn't blink so much as dim slightly. "What use would I be if I can't even defeat you?" Kunimitsu covered her face with the mask again. "It's too late - it has awaken. The fourth season has ended."

From a pocket, Kunimitsu pulled out a small remote and pressed the button. Something within her backpack exploded, spraying water through the fabric. Laughing, Kunimitsu threw the remote at Michelle and threw something else at her own feet. In a flash of light, it was as if the air around Kunimitsu's body suddenly condensed into a dark grey cloud. When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

"No," whispered Michelle. She was picking through the backpack, pulling out shards of an earthen jar.

Julia recognized part of the pattern; it was the ceremonial jar, an integral part of Hopi legend. As the Hopi people made their migrations around the world, they often had to settle in inhospitable places. The ceremonial water jar was a gift from Masaw. So long as it remained intact and buried, water would flow from it based on the power and prayer of the people. If Kunimitsu had uncovered it earlier that would have explained the failure of the rain ceremony. There would be no water until a replacement jar was made and blessed. Kunimitsu had just signed the Hopitu's death warrant.


	3. Jin's Training

**Chapter 2**

"Again."

Jin Kazama readied himself, tugging on the heavy cotton gi pants to keep the cuffs from bunching around his ankles. He raised his hands. At his grandfather's nod, Jin snapped out two jabs which Heihachi blocked. Dropping to one knee, Jin aimed his right hand towards Heihachi's stomach; his grandfather avoided the blow by simply stepping back. Putting all his weight on his front leg, Jin pushed off into a leaping uppercut and jumped right past Heihachi who had sidestepped. In the brief moment before landing, there was just enough time for Jin to think, "Oh, God, here it comes."

Heihachi moved his hands from his right hip straight into Jin's gut and solar plexus knocking the air out of his grandson's lungs. The movement was so deft and quick that if he hadn't felt its effect, Jin wouldn't have believed it touched him. It was so deceptionally simple - a move that didn't even fully extend the arms - and yet it transferred enough power to sap all the strength in its target. To listen to Heihachi's explanation of the move, it involved altering the ki in your opponent; by disrupting the body's internal energy, the person's muscles would violently contract and incapacitate them. The unspoken conclusion was if the ki was altered enough, you could kill with this blow. As it was, Jin collapsed to the dojo's tatami mats clutching his stomach and struggling not to vomit.

"Again," Heihachi said, not moving to help Jin. "Your true enemy will not wait for nausea to pass. Get up, boy. We will undo your mother's weak training yet."

Jin pushed himself to his feet. Swallowing the rising bile, Jin glared at Heihachi. "She ... was not weak."

"Then why are you here now? Why isn't she here to complete your training?"

Jin swung his right fist at Heihachi and missed. He swung his left and missed again, but there was something different now. Jin could feel a change in the tension as though Heihachi was no longer at a cool distance. Heihachi was being forced to participate, and even if Jin couldn't knock him down at least there was the satisfaction that Heihachi knew he was no longer in complete control of the situation.

The fight didn't last longer than a few minutes and, when it was over, Jin added two new bruises and a bloody nose to the ever increasing list of injuries inflicted through his grandfather's training. But as Heihachi stood over him, with the two tufts of gray hair that extended above his ears like devil horns and the heavy eyebrows set in a perpetual furrow, there was the slightest of turns at the corners of his mouth.

"Remember this feeling, Jin. For the first time, you understand where your power is. For the first time, you feel the fire burning within you. Keep those flames alive, and when it's time for you to avenge your mother don't hold back."

Heihachi held out a hand and pulled Jin to his feet. "Continue your training. I have business to attend to."

"Sofu." Jin waited for Heihachi to turn before continuing. "She wasn't weak."

"Neither was your father. You come from a family of fighters. Never give up."

Jin bowed and when Heihachi had left, struck the heavy bag as hard as he could.

*** * ***

It wasn't enough. It was never enough. He could almost hear Heihachi yelling, "Again. Again."

Jin Kazama threw another punch and felt it bounce off the heavy bag as though he were a seven year old instead of nineteen. Again! Stepping back, Jin spun as fast as he could on his front leg and whipped his other leg up and around. The bag seemed to absorb his roundhouse and then shoved back, causing him to stumble. He barely managed to extend a hand to stop himself from falling right on his face.

"Damn it," he said gasping. 'No good,' he thought, 'I'll never be able to win like this.' The heavy bag didn't sway so much as jiggle like it was chuckling at his efforts.

Under Heihachi's training, Jin had grown in both strength and speed. His arms no longer struggled with sixty pound dumbbells, his chest had broadened, and a six minute mile run was merely a warm up. Yet, it was not enough.

Exhausted, Jin leaned his elbows on his knees. The heavy cotton pants of his gi had reached their limit in sweat absorption and were sticking to his legs, restricting his movement. The pants, black with deep crimson flames stitched along the right leg up to the hip, had been a gift from his grandfather. It was supposed to be reminiscent of the flames of a dragon - strength, power, indomitable spirit, but now it only served as a reminder of the day's heat. Not that he needed any more of a reminder.

His tongue, long since dry, tingled and stuck to the roof of his mouth. Even his forehead, which had earlier let a constant sheen of sweat roll from the edge of his widow's peak to his chin, no longer felt wet - a sign that he was on the verge of heat exhaustion. The thermometer on the dojo wall had gone from 34 degrees Centigrade at nine in the morning to a nearly unbearable 40 degrees in the three hours Jin had been training.

Staggering to the side of the dojo, he managed to open up the last of the disposable water bottles and pour most of its contents directly down his throat. It was as though his body simply sucked the water into itself, desperate to replenish what the heat threatened to rip from it. He poured the last few mouthfuls of water over his head to bring some moisture back onto his skin to evaporate and take some heat with it.

Anger. It was a trait his mother had constantly warned him of. Like Heihachi, she had described it in terms of a fire, but it was not something that could be controlled for power. It was always searching for a way to spill out in its endless quest to feed. Containing it would extinguish it, letting it loose would destroy all you loved. It was a dangerous path akin to letting a demon into your heart. And yet, in that short fight with Heihachi, Jin felt a power he had never felt before. The pain of loss had been dulled, replaced by a sense of purpose. Vengeance, not blood, coursed his body, fueling his muscles to react quicker and hit harder. Blows that had previously knocked him to the ground had only slowed him in his fury. There was even a moment when he had thought Heihachi would not have been able to stop him. He still wasn't sure how he was put down, but the power had been his.

He clenched a fist and then slowly relaxed it as his mother had taught him to release anger. Her lessons were all he had left of her. It was important to honor them regardless of what Heihachi taught.

The dojo lacked windows, but it was his grandfather's private training area. As one of Japan's richest men, Heihachi could afford to have the dojo open up into a traditional Japanese strolling garden complete with elaborate viewing pagodas and gently arching wooden bridges over fully stocked koi ponds. Jin had kept the door to the garden open since Heihachi had left that morning for the air it brought in, but had been too focused to enjoy the scenery. Now though, as he looked out to the sharply defined shadows beneath the heavy wooded areas and sparkle of sunlight on water, he saw her.

"Mother." She was dressed as she was the last time he had seen her alive at their mountain home in the Yakushima mountains: a simple white buttoned blouse and black pants that ended just below her knees. She looked at him and smiled the motherly smile that wipes away the tears of an infant and the pains of childhood. She stood on the water's surface, her feet making not so much as a ripple, and on a day when even the fish hid in the watery shade beneath the bridges, she sought no shelter from the oppressive heat. Her black hair, straight and unadorn, draped to her shoulders, and the shifting of the light upon it was all that betrayed her stillness. Despite the distance between them, Jin could see there were no wrinkles around her eyes; she had not aged and there was no hint of the death that had claimed her four years ago.

"Mother, look out!" The water beneath her seemed to thicken into sludge and come to life. A goopy tendril leeched onto her feet and slowly began to climb up her body. Jun didn't seem the least bit concerned about this, although as the goop wrapped around her chest the look of her eyes changed ever so slightly. It was now the smile of a woman leaving her child behind, of encouragement and sadness, a gesture to stay strong and believe that everything will be all right in the end even as they were torn apart.

An inhumanly large hand encircled her neck, and her face seemed to melt. Jun's body tightened, curling up as if being compressed from the inside, and the color drained from her body as the sludge finally swallowed her. The hand squeezed and the covered body exploded in a spray of muddy looking water and blood. In her place was the Ogre. He appeared as he had when he had first taken Jun's life, stepping out from the shadows of the trees. His towering figure blocking out the sun, hiding its dullish aqua skin in a silhouette. The shock of thick, ropy red hair that swept behind its helmeted head, the ruby colored eyes which seemed to burn, the thick lips pulled back from its teeth in a cruel half smile was all as Jin remembered.

Its smooth skin and epic proportions made it look as if it had been carved from a single piece of marble, a statue that could hold the world upon its back as it knelt atop a tall white column. Dense muscle rippled with its every movement, and the very air seemed to curve around its massive frame as if scared to brush the skin.

'No,' thought Jin. 'No, not yet. I need more training.' At the memory, his right fist began to ache as it had when he had first attacked Ogre after it had murdered Jun. It had been like punching a block of ice, resulting in a dull, cold numbness in the bones of his hand. His punch had almost bounced off Ogre's hardened body, like his latest exhausted punch to the heavy bag.

Ogre laughed as though it knew his thoughts. "You remember don't you, child? What you witnessed then was a power more ancient than any you will ever see again. I have been for centuries, and I shall be for centuries. Your feeble attack that day was all that saved you. You were not worthy to become a part of me, but I see you have grown stronger. There is hope for you yet, though you are still a student not above his master."

Jin could feel his heart palpitate, the feverish flush of blood filling his head. His eyes began to lose their focus, making the figure of Ogre seem to shimmer, phasing in and out of existence. Come on, he admonished himself. Push through the pain. Show an indomitable spirit - the spirit that can defeat ghosts. Do it for mother ... gritting his teeth, Jin tightened his fist. It would be different this time.

"Child," Ogre said, "you are not ready yet. Soon though, I will come for you. Mother sends her regards."

Before Jin could react, Ogre seemed to fly at him. The jagged mouth of teeth, like a tunnel, opened wide in a laugh like rattling bones, threatening to swallow Jin whole. Ogre passed through Jin with a sudden gust of wind that felt like the blast from an explosion. Staggered, Jin felt as though he were moving underwater as he turned, desperate to show one act of defiance to Ogre. His fist chased after the wind and drove deep into the punching bag bursting a hole into it.

Jin watched the sand poured out like a waterfall, a broken hourglass measuring the length of his life. Time was running out, the end was rushing towards him like ground to someone who had jumped off a building. The sand flashed by in a dizzying mix of dark and light. Absently, Jin found his hand moving to close the hole, like a soldier trying to hold in the guts of a wounded comrade. The sand slowed, but continued to slide around his shaking fingers.

It wasn't enough, Jin thought. It was never enough. And then collapsed.


	4. Memory of the Ogres

**Chapter 3**

"The jar ..." a woman cried out, "the jar has been broken."

"The source of our water is gone," lamented another villager.

Eototo raised his hands and the village fell quiet. A priest stepped forward.

"The ceremony is over," the priest said. "Our test begins. Please return to your homes for now. I must talk to the water bearer family."

Obediently, the villagers shuffled out of the central plaza, leaving it haunting in its stillness. Only Julia, Michelle, the priest, and the Katsinams remained. One by one, the Katsinam dancers removed their masks.

"Julia," Michelle said. "Please go home."

"But mom -" Julia stopped when she saw the priest turn to her.

"It is not our intention to exclude you from all things," he said. "You too shall have duties to help us, but these will be relayed to you by your mother."

"I understand." Without looking at the priest or Michelle, Julia turned away and began walking. The trip back to her pueblo was longer than she remembered from past festivals. Instead of the villagers milling about, they hid away within their adobe and sandstone homes. Mothers ushered their children away from the windows as Julia walked past as though her skin had erupted into boils and scabs and that she might taint their young. Julia forced herself to look straight ahead. She was nothing to these people, only Michelle accepted her fully. To everyone else she was just a bastard, a stray saved from the dumpster of the natural world. No matter how close a community was there were always people whose toes touched air, the people one mistake away from falling away into nothing. It seemed Julia and Michelle's final mistake had happened today.

Like her, Julia's pueblo laid on the outskirts of the society it dwelled in. In theory it was a place of honor as it was one of the first homes to be touched by the awaking sun, but now it just seemed to have been pushed out in front to be burned in place of the rest of the village. The ladder to the second level of the pueblo, where her room was, seemed like too much effort. Instead, she entered through the front door and made her way up the stairs to her room. She knelt by the bed and laid her head in the crook of her arms and did not move.

At ten o'clock Julia heard the front door open. She didn't raise her head from the hands nor did she stand up from the corner of the bedroom. Michelle walked past to her room without looking into Julia's. "Come on," she said. "I have to start packing."

"Why?" Julia mumbled.

"I'm going to Japan to see Heihachi. You're to stay here and fire a new jar and find a young, unmarried man of perfect character to complete the ceremony. We must create a ceremonial jar if we're to survive."

"Did they tell you to do this?"

"No, Julia. They wanted me to stay and create the jar while you found the man who would give it its power. Where are you? Help me get ready."

Julia pushed herself up and stood in the doorway to Michelle's room with her arms crossed. "Why are you defying them?"

"Because they don't understand what Heihachi is capable of. The breaking of the ceremonial jar was planned, not an act of desperation. Heihachi wanted to keep us busy while he hunted down Ogre because Kokyanwuhti once defeated Ogre. He doesn't want us to find out how it was done."

"But they said not to go."

"Julia, if I had always followed their orders I would have never found you." Michelle opened a suitcase and began placing folded clothes into it.

"Just because it worked out once doesn't mean it will work out again. If this Heihachi is as bad as you say then what makes you think this will work out and you'll get what you want. Obviously he wants something or he wouldn't have sent that ninja to interrupt the ceremony and destroy the water jar."

"We know what he wants. Kunimitsu said it - he needs the pendant."

"And you're going to bring it right to him."

"Actually," Michelle said. "I'm giving it to you." Michelle reached around to unclasp the necklace, but Julia stepped back.

"I don't want it. I don't want your parting gift. I want you to stay."

"I can't do that, Julia. Heihachi is planning something and we need to know what it is."

"So just like that you're leaving. Abandoning me. Just like my real mother!"

Michelle stopped packing and turned to face her daughter. "Julia, you know that's not true. I would never abandon you."

"Then what do you call this? Protecting me? You can't protect me if you're not here."

"Julia, please."

"Forget it," Julia said as she backed away. "You do what you have to, Michelle. Just go."

Julia ran before Michelle could say anything else.

*** * ***

Her usual hiding place at the edge of the village was too obvious. That would be the first place Michelle would look. Instead, Julia double backed to the Hopi Cultural Center and took a side road that ended in a sharp drop. Beneath the overhanging rock was a ledge, just wide enough for a single person to walk along, which led to a small hollow in the mesa. It was not quite a cave, but was deep enough to provide shelter from rain if it ever came.

Here the earth surrounded her. There was a sense of protection and warmth. It was like being in the womb of the earth mother. Far from being claustrophobic, she always felt more at peace enclosed in the solidity of the earth and nature. Even in such an unforgiving land as the Arizona mesas, there was always life, always beauty. All you had to do was slow down and breathe. As her mind calmed, Julia became aware of the thin black line of ants trickling from a hole in the wall and marching around her feet.

'Industrial as always,' thought Julia. According to Hopi mythology, there had been three previous worlds, and each time the corruption became too great for the world or the gods to bear, the faithful were gathered together to be saved while the rest of the world was destroyed. Legend had it that the Ant People had been entrusted with the protection of the faithful people the first two times the world was destroyed. It was the Ant People who taught humans to work together and harvest food for the winter ... to always look to the future.

'And that's all mother was trying to do, wasn't she?' Julia asked herself. Michelle was trying to prepare her for the day she would have to make her own decisions and to live the life without her mother's protection and guidance. 'And I bit her for it.'

Julia pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in the crook of her arms. When she moved again the shadows had deepened as the sun moved higher in the sky. Judging from the stiffness in her joints, an hour or more had passed. She heard the crunch of gravel beneath boots.

"Julia? Are you there?"

"Yeah, mom."

Michelle stepped into the opening. "I thought I might find you here. Are you okay?"

Julia nodded.

"Room enough for two?"

Julia scooted to the left and waited as Michelle stepped over the ant trail and sat beside her. "I'm sorry, mom."

"You don't have to be. Considering all you've been through as a child - the questions you must have about your origins, the doubts you've faced about your worth - a single outburst after so long is nothing I didn't expect. To be honest, I thought it would have happened sooner, but you've always been strong. You've always held back your anger, and you've always sought to master your fears on your own. Even against the Ogres. Do you remember?"

Julia nodded. The first time she had met them she had been a child of no more than four years old. The Katsinam had once more flooded the Hopi village. To non-Hopi, the Katsinam were spectacles, half-naked men in body paint and masks dancing and stomping dusty feet. They thought it quaint, unable or unwilling to grasp their significance. The Katsinam were not men, but spirits come back to give their blessings and help the Hopi live and renew their bond with the earth. The masks, like names, were powerful; they transformed the wearer, gave him a new identity, none more terrifying than Nata-aska and Wiharu, the Black and White Ogre.

She remembered how the festive atmosphere had suddenly ground to a halt. The distant drum beat changed to a hollow rattle, and a metallic scraping accompanied the deathly sound. Three figures, tall ones with turkey feathers forming a loose fan around their horned heads, emerged from over the ridge. In the middle was Soyoko, the Ogre Woman, carrying a basket large enough to place children in, and Nata-aska and Wiharu walked along on either side. They carried a bow and arrow in one hand and dragged a bloodied saw in the other. Long alligator-like jaws clacked fiercely in anticipation of feasting on the flesh of children, turtle shells rattled like bones from their calves.

Wiharu, the White Ogre, roared and grabbed one of the Koyemsi, mudheaded clowns, and threw it to the ground. As the Koyemsi knelt, Wiharu sat on its back and roared again, pressing the saw against the clown's head. The clown moaned and clawed toward the crowd to rescue him. His red mask, the face resembling a grounded electrical socket, turned to the children with whom he had danced and played games with between ceremonies, but they only hid behind their parents. Blood splattered against the hostage clown as the Black Ogre, Nata-aska, waved its saw at him.

Julia stepped forward and the Ogres turned to face her. They roared again. Wiharu stepped over the cowering mudhead and began to shuffle towards her, leaving a red trail behind it. Wiharu loomed over her, its dark figure blotting out the sun. A growl rumbled from deep within its throat, and it snapped its jaws hungrily. Closing her eyes, she held out an offering of food. For a long time, she held out her hands still with food in them. Was it enough? Why weren't they taking it?

When she opened her eyes again, Soyoko stood before her. Her straggly hair whipped around like the folds of her black robes. Vacant eyes, empty yet somehow alive, seemed to suck away Julia's breath. Blood dripped from her knife, and the cane she carried to grab children jangled. She looked at the offering as though weighing it against Julia's life. Soyoko reached out and placed Julia's piki bread into her basket. She stretched out a hand to her guardians, a message to leave Julia alone. As swiftly as a snake, she turned and led the ogres through the crowd, collecting food from children and bargaining with parents for the children themselves.

"You gave me the courage to face them," Julia said.

"The courage was always inside of you. As a child, though, you become used to attributing your actions to others - even the good. Here." Michelle pulled her hair up and unhinged the clasp to her necklace. "It's important that you have this now."

Julia took the pendant and turned it over in her hand, marvelling at the way it caught the light. It was like a sunrise delicately balanced on her fingers. The fine burnished turquoise, the size of a human eye, and the polished silver wings and claws which held it were coated with a layer of time no polish could wipe away. Yet there was a strange feeling of familiarity. As she bound her neck with its silver chain, she hadn't been able to shake the idea that it wasn't the first time she had felt its metallic embrace.

She ran a finger along the slippery turquoise. It was warm. "Where did you find this? I feel like I've seen this before."

"It's a family heirloom. Our family has guarded it for generations."

"Guarding it? Why?"

"It's been said that this pendant gives its wearer the power to control spirits. In fact, your grandfather came to our lands to take this for Kazuya Mishima. Turns out he found love instead and refused to betray the Hopitu. To keep us safe, he returned to Kazuya so he couldn't be tracked back to our lands." Michelle turned away, as though from the memory. "Most likely he was killed."

"Then who is this Heihachi that Kunimitsu mentioned? She said Heihachi killed Kazuya."

Michelle gave a weak snort as a laugh. "He's Kazuya's father."

'So,' thought Julia, 'I'm not the only one abandoned by birth parents. If anything the Mishima family sounds worse. At least my mother let me live.'

"Julia, it's very important that you never take that pendant off. You cannot let it out of your possession. Ever."

Julia nodded as she put it on. "I'll protect it with my life."

"I hope it won't come to that. There are only a few things worth dying for. This is one of them. The only other thing I can think of right now is family. Jun Kazama knew that too."

"Who's that?"

"A friend I met in the tournament," Michelle said. "I haven't heard from her in a while, but she was never very talkative anyway. I should finish packing if I'm to get to Japan. Heihachi has some questions to answer. I know it's a difficult request to make of you, but I need you to stay here and keep the pendant safe." Michelle touched Julia's cheek lightly. "Be strong. Remember ... all the courage and strength you need is already inside of you. I'll come back no later than two weeks."

"You'd better," Julia said, "because you won't be here to stop me from coming after you."


	5. Visions of Sacrifice

**Chapter 4**

She started the purification ceremony the day after Michelle left for Japan since the ritual took four days to complete. On the fifth day she gathered the clay and shaped it. She made the jar devoid of handles which would be broken when it was buried. The jar resembled the body of an ant: a bulging body that melded into a thin neck which flared out at the mouth. Around the neck she had painted stylized water consisting of a thick line that circled all around the jar's neck to represent the sea surface and, from the surface, squared off spirals for waves. On the jar's body she painted a version of Mother Earth. It looked like backward concentric c's with the ends of the outer figure moving towards each other to embrace the smaller c's. At the mouth of the figure was a cross.

She ran her finger over the lip of the jar. The easy part was done, and now she was left with the prospect of finding an unmarried man of perfect character.

'Why not have the ability to walk on water one of the requirements too?' she thought. It was hard enough to find anyone with a perfect character, much less an unmarried man. When a man was looking for both a woman and a field to sow, how could he possibly focus on developing his character?

Julia held up the painted water jar to the light. It had a beautiful burnished despite it lacking a glaze. The clay grains were so fine that Julia had only needed to polish it with a smooth stone. However, searching for the imperfections had been time-consuming and tedious so the polishing took hours. Julia's eyes felt as if they were pointing in different directions. Sighing, she took off her glasses, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose. It was eight o'clock at night and she still needed to fire it.

Michelle was scheduled to return in another week. By then the new jar would be done and, with any luck, filled with water in accordance with the legend, so that the water of the ocean would be pulled to the jar and rain would come. Like all the Hopi traditions, there were specific instructions to perform the actions correctly. Julia knew the ritual to fill the water jar with power by heart, but that didn't make it any easier to fulfill its requirements. She still didn't know how she was to find an unmarried man of perfect character, but there was time enough to think about that later.

The phone rang. Julia groaned as she slipped her glasses back on. "What now?" It rang again before she was able to get to it. "Hello? Yes, this is she." Julia forced herself to listen intently to the woman speaking on the other end. It was hard to hear her voice over the music in the background. "Again? I see. I'll come get him now."

Julia tossed the phone back onto the receiver. This was not what she needed now, but he was family. She took the keys from the push pin on the corkboard beside the front door and stepped out into the night. Her uncle's spare pickup truck was parked away from the pueblos so that it wouldn't be in the way for ceremonies and every day village life. The drive down to Flagstaff was long, but uneventful, most of it was on long stretches of highway with hardly any noticeable landmarks or towns along the way. It was nearly ten o'clock by the time she rolled into Flagstaff.

Despite being the end of June when summer vacation for students began, the university town was still alive with the lights and sounds of college students leaving bars to continue partying at fraternity or sorority houses. She turned onto Milton road and her headlights passed over a group of teenagers in a half circle. It looked like they were watching a fight that had been taken to the ground, but the lack of angry taunting indicated that it was decidedly one-sided. Through the gaps in the crowd she could see glimpses of a middle aged man lying on his side, vainly attempting to ward off kicks.

'Just great,' Julia thought as she parked the truck and got out. She pulled on her fingerless, leather gloves and squeezed to the front of the group.

"Where's your big mouth now, Cliff-Shitter?" the leader asked, punctuating his question with another kick. "You so trog that you can't even fight back without government legislation?"

Julia clenched her fists. Why did they always do this to the peaceful people? How big could you think yourself for beating up the defenseless? Blood was running down an abrasion from her uncle's forehead. As the teenager kicking her uncle pulled his foot back again, Julia leapt forward.

By sticking out her left arm, Julia rammed the boy head first into the side of the building. She slammed her forearm into the back of his head and then jerked him back towards the spectators. Widening her stance, Julia prepared for them to rush her. One of the girls, a tall blond, swung a looping right towards Julia. Spinning, Julia got behind the attacker and shoved her against the wall before kicking out her legs and elbowing her in the face. The blond went down.

Two more teenagers jumped in. Julia pivoted so that they couldn't flank her and punched one of them in the gut and pushed him into the path of the other attacker. As they flailed their arms in an attempt to find their balance again, Julia jumped and kicked out both legs, catching each teenager in the face. Her momentum brought her back to her feet when she landed. The other two teenagers stared open-mouthed at her for a few seconds before running. Julia surveyed the damage.

Four teenagers were lying on the ground groaning and unable to move. Good. It would make getting her uncle out of here easier. She turned to him and offered her hand.

He squinted up at her and swatted at her hand but missed. "Get away from me, ya half-breed."

"Don't speak about my mother that way."

Albert slapped his hand over his face. "Aw, what the hell is this? She couldn't come down to get me herself? She sent her bastard daughter after me?"

'Yeah, you're welcome.' Julia thought. Sleeping would be a much better use of her time, more peaceful, and a whole lot cheaper, but someone had to take care of Michelle's drunk half-brother. She tried to remember the uncle he used to be before the injury that forced him away from tending the fields. "Michelle wouldn't like hearing you say that, Uncle Al, but she's in Japan now. Remember?"

"She's a lazy deserter. That's what she is."

"That's not true, Uncle Al."

"Whatever. What took you so long?" He roused himself from the wall his back was pressed against and hunched his head between his knees.

"I came as fast as I could. You know it's more than a 120 miles from the reservation."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm such a goddamn inconvenience to you. What were you doing anyway? Probably sleeping."

"I was making the new water jar."

"That's something your mother should be doing."

"She's in Japan."

"She's a lazy deserter."

Julia sighed. This was going nowhere. They had to get moving before the teenagers recovered or their friends came back with help. Julia fisted her hands in her uncle's shirt and hauled him to his feet.

"Stop manhandling me," he said flopping his arms at her.

"It's time to go." Julia half guided and half shoved him along to the truck. She leaned her uncle against the cab as she opened the door.

"This is the wrong side," he said.

"No, it's not. I'm driving."

"Since when?"

"Since you taught me a year ago and since you are too drunk to even stand up." Julia helped him into his seat despite his protests. By the time, Julia had walked to the other side and started the truck, he had already passed out. Julia looked at him in the light of the street lamps. Somewhere past the alcoholic haze and the stupor of helplessness was the uncle she had known as a child. Lying dormant was the tall, proud Hopi who didn't flinch at the thought of a long day of work under the Arizona sun, the man who ruffled his niece's hair when he returned in the evening from the fields and listened intently on her day's adventures. Like the bald eagle, the symbol of America, Native Americans were a part of this country's history and heritage, but were careless swept aside and eliminated for the sake of progress.

Despite his words, Julia could not put all the blame on him for what he been broken down to. She knew all too well what it was to not be wanted, to be discarded. Julia rolled up her jacket and slipped it behind her uncle's head before starting the truck and beginning the long drive back to the reservation.

*** * ***

Julia bolted upright in bed as the sweat ran down her face in rivulets. "The pendant," she whispered. "The pendant ... the pendant was there."

Sunlight streamed through the blinds on her window causing the silver of the pendant to sparkle and the turquoise to glow. At least that's what she thought until she cast off the blankets and turned her body from the window and found that it was still glowing.

"What?" Julia took the pendant in her hand and lifted it up so she could examine it. She could feel the warmth from her body draining away. She closed her fingers over the warm turquoise and pulled the necklace taut. 'With just a quick tug,' she thought, 'I could be rid of this curse.' She pulled harder, feeling the metal chain dig into the back of her neck. She let it go. Michelle had told her she must never remove it, that it was important to the survival of her people.

Cradling her head in her hands, she felt her body shaking. There was more to this battle than just what she wanted, more than what her mother anticipated. How could she fight or anyone fight the Ogre? That was what it lived for; fighting was what sustained it. There hasn't been a terror like this in the world since the Hisatsinom, the ancient ones, were destroyed in Chaco Canyon over 800 years ago until the Spider Woman defeated Ogre. This fight would be different though. It would not be limited to just a tribe of natives. 'The tournament shall call it,' that's what Kunimitsu had said. The tournament, according to Michelle, was a gathering of all the best fighters in the world. If they were absorbed by Ogre, then not only would its strength increase, but it will have tasted the blood of people representing almost each nation on earth. Its hunger would not be slaked by any one race.

There would be no avoiding it this time. It would hunt down the best and add them to its growing power. The only way to stop it would be to cut off its supply to souls and defeat it before it was able to gain more strength, but to do that would mean that she would have to leave her people and discover a weakness to Ogre before it could get its momentum started.

Julia stood up and let the blankets slide from her body. There would be time enough later for worries. First things first. She needed to finish the new water jar and provide for the tribe before she ran off. But then, there was no guarantee that she could find a man of perfect character to fill the water jar as required by the ritual to bring the ocean's power to the Hopitu, and even if she did what good would it do to have water only to have Ogre appear and destroy them because she hadn't found a weapon to use against Ogre?

"Mother," she whispered. "What am I to do?"

She picked at the crust anchored to the corner of her eyes and entered the hallway that led to the small living room and kitchen. She froze.

Somehow her uncle had managed to drag himself from out of his drunken stupor on the couch to stand at the kitchen counter. He wavered on his feet, but managed to keep upright as he held the water jar to the light and peered at it, twisting and turning it as though trying to figure out if there were booze inside and, if so, how to get it out short of breaking the container.

"No, get away from that!" Julia crossed the threshold and snatched the jar from her uncle's hands. She turned the container around in a made effort to ensure herself that it remained undamaged.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" her uncle managed as he staggered back from her sudden intrusion. "I was just lookin'."

"Do you understand what this is? It's all that we have left to hope for. This is the life of the Hopitu."

"Then it should be in the hands of a true Hopi. Not in the hands of a bastard daughter of a deserter."

Julia didn't recall moving. All she knew was that her hand had changed positions and that Uncle Albert fell backwards. She didn't even feel the sting in her knuckles until she had left. The only thing she remembered was the pain of his words, her screaming at his prone body that he would never be able to comprehend the sacrifices that Michelle had made for them, and the sound of the Ford's engine as she left the reservation.

*** * ***

It was always the same in her dreams: the plaza and the people filled with frenzy. For the past three nights she was one of the people below, a single crest among the sea of arms reaching and swaying below the thick morning mist. The people would chant and Julia would chant with them, her mouth knowing words her brain did not; her neck craned up to watch a bronze colored figure, framed against a white robe, materialized to stand upon the air itself. It was a godly figure with something shiny on its chest.

This time in the dream, she found herself at the center of a city built in a large basin bounded on all sides by mountains. When she looked out it was from a high vantage point - some sort of a tiered mountain made of water. Far below, arms swayed and rolled like waves in a trance and, in the distance, heavy drumbeats stomped like a herd of elephants. At times she could make out feline shapes slinking through the haze with cruel smiles, the length of her arm, flashing in the growing light.

Before her, lying flat upon a circular stone, was a dark-skinned man with his limbs held down by feathered serpents. Sweat beaded over his naked skin as he strained against their muscular bodies. Over the wind, Julia could hear someone chanting behind her in an ancient language, but she was unable to turn her head. A hand reached past her and picked up the obsidian knife from the stone, and the prisoner struggled even more fiercely.

The chanting priest stepped into Julia's view, a white cotton robe draped around his broad shoulders. His face looked carved from stone, hard and passive, and he wore a pair of eagle feathers in his headband, a clear symbol of power. He must have been the figure she had seen in her past dreams, hovering in the air. Julia had always believed the shining light she had seen was the pendant she now wore. This time she could clearly see it.

She could see the silver wings, the three layers of feathers on each wing which grew steadily wider as they traveled downward until their tips overlapped at the bottom. Turned sideways, the inner edges of the wings were looked almost like eyelids, and its iris was an oval turquoise stone the size of a human eye. Four talons held the stone in place like a victim on the sacrificial stone. Silvery lines ran across its burnished surface like the veins of a heart.

The priest continued to chant and raised the blade over his head to grasp it with both hands. The prisoner's arms strained against the clasps against his wrist, drawing red lines upon his skin and suddenly Julia was struggling with him. She felt the leathered hands of the guards press her body down to the stone surface, worn smooth from the thousands who was sanded the texture off with their backs, as she looked up through the prisoner's eyes.

With a yell, the priest plunged the knife down and a terrible wail filled the air and ripped the sleep from Julia's mind. She could still hear the screams of the prisoner, could still see the blood spurted with each beat of his racing heart from the hole being cut in his side. She gagged at the memory, her chest tightening with the thought of having her heart torn from her body. Bolting upright, her hand went to her chest but instead of warm and sticky blood, all she felt was the cold, burnished surface of the pendant.

In the instant between sleep and consciousness, Julia traveled across five centuries and hundreds of miles to find herself back in Arizona, and the journey left her drained. She closed her eyes and concentrating on breathing, on bringing her heart rate down. She pushed herself off the blanket she had laid on the cave floor. Hidden within the walls of Canyon de Chelly, the air was almost refrigerated and swished in the closed area like the waves she had once heard when her mom had brought her to San Francisco bay in California.

Like an archaeologist pushing aside spiderwebs, Julia dusted away the last threads of the dream trying to ensnare her thoughts. Warmth slowly returned to her body as she busied herself. Yet there still remained a sense that she had missed its purpose. There had to be more to it than just dreams - visions of a dead past - because there was a sense of foreboding, that it was a warning of the true nature of Ogre.

"Anxiety," she told herself. What would Michelle do when she returned and didn't find Julia in the village? She had turned her back on the Hopitu - deserted the tribe. She had failed in her duty to fill the water jar, worse yet she had taken it away from the Hopitu. If Michelle did return in time for another rain ceremony, they would not have the power of the water jar and time would be wasted in creating a new one.

Maybe she should bring it back, but would they even let her return? Most of the tribe feared the pendant she wore. If the necklace had the power to control spirits, wouldn't it need to call them first? So long as Julia remained in the village, they reasoned, Ogre would have a beacon to follow.

Her thoughts were broken with the feel of pin needles dancing on her right hand. In the half light of the smoldering campfire she looked at her hand where a spider had wandered onto her open palm. It waited at the center as though making sure she was watching before spiraling out to the base of her fingers. It then cut diagonally across her hand in a jagged pattern like a symbolic drawing of lightning. Pausing once more it scuttled to the edge of her hand and slid down a silk thread to disappear into the darkness.

Julia stared at her empty palm. A message? It looked as if the spider had traced out ancient petroglyphs left from the Ancient Ones. She vaguely recalled seeing those two leading to a opening in the walls of Canyon del Muerto, the Canyon of the Dead, which made up the northern part of Canyon de Chelly and was named after two mummies found in the 19th century. The opening was somewhere south of Mummy Cave overlook. She should go there but that would require her to go through Navajo territory as the path leading past the rock painting was directly above their farming land.

The Navajo were very strict, as many native tribes were, about who entered their territory and how. Nobody was even supposed to enter Canyon de Chelly without a park ranger or Navajo guide to accompany them ... but she'd broken plenty of tribal laws just to return to the place where Michelle had first found her - a few more wouldn't make a difference.

*** * ***

The sandstone spire towered over Canyon de Chelly's floor. From far away, Spider Rock looked like a tree stump that had been stripped of its bark. Its surface was, for the most part, smooth save a few nicks and horizontal lines worn along its circumference. Clinging to the hard packed dirt at the base of the rock formation were Opumtia cati and sagebrush. Spider Rock stood alone in the deep canyon.

'Just like me,' Julia thought. She had left the truck in Chinle and hiked the four miles east to Canyon de Chelly. She didn't want to wear away any more of the fragile environment, and she couldn't risk leaving tire marks for the Dineh to follow as she crossed off-road through their reservation. Usually they charged fees to enter the hiking trails, fees to camp, and often required that a Dineh guide accompany parties who wanted to explore the backcountry. The last thing she needed was to have someone looking over her shoulder. Besides, she was visiting her own origins.

A thin stream of water crossed the pebbled bed rock in front of her. She flicked the water with the toe of her boot. There should have been more water by now. In fact, now was the season where hikers should have had to watch for flash floods. Yet there was nothing in the sky except the sun and an endless ocean of blue as clear as a polished mirror's surface. Julia adjusted her backpack on her shoulders and began the journey to the base of Spider Rock.

*** * ***

Julia ducked into the cave as a cloud of dust announced the arrival of a tour truck along the upper ridge of the canyon. She watched it from the mouth of the cave, looking for any indication that the tourists or guides had seen her. The truck stopped and tourists stepped towards the edge of the canyon with cameras. Julia backed into the shadows in case the cameras had powerful zoom. Foreigners to the native lands generally could not understand nor appreciate the majesty of Spider Rock or the surrounding natural monuments for more than a few minutes. With no sense of the lore and history, every rock formation looked the same and the only thing that invoked awe in the viewer was the physical aspect instead of the spiritual. Those tourists more in tuned in nature may have been able to sense the mythical power at a low level, but nothing that would match the reverence of a native.

The canyon walls echoed the sound of the engine revving up and truck bounce away on the rough terrain to more exciting stops. Julia peered out to ensure that nobody had stayed behind, and then continued into the cavern. The air was musty - a scent like an old sickness. She ran her flashlight over the walls and cave floor. Nothing seemed out of place in the haunting quiet. She had long passed the petroglyphs that the spider had traced out on her hand. The canyon seemed to call her, leading her onwards. At every turn something had tugged her mind, but why would the spiders bring her here? Maybe she had read too much into the message.

Despite the desert sun outside, the cave was cool. Julia shivered and collapsed to her shaking knees. The pendant glowed, casting the cave in a deep turquoise as though light was reflecting from a pool of tropical water. Julia struggled to breathe as the pendant drew on her strength, to light the walls where petroglyphs burned on the walls like an after-image on the back of eyelids. It was like the pictures she had seen of scorpions lit with ultraviolet light that glowed blue or white with a purple tint at the edges. At the north end of the cave where it curved deeper into the earth was the emblem of the spider-clan.

The pendant dimmed, returning warmth and breath to Julia's body. She sucked the air fiercely and pushed herself to her feet. She nearly grinned. "Thank you, dear spirits." You could ask for no clearer sign than that.

The curve in the cave narrowed down to the point where she had to crawl on her belly to get through. Rocks scraped at her exposed arms and thighs, dust stirred with her breath, until at last the opening widened up into another cavern. To each side, the cavern stretched out into darkness, but she felt a tug in her mind to look in a different direction. Lifting her gaze to the ceiling of the cave, she could barely make out what looked to be hand holds in the rock face, spaced at intervals that a determined climber could use to reach the top. Placing the small flashlight in her mouth, Julia began her ascent.

The trick to rock climbing was to use the legs. Most amateurs focused to much about moving up, and only used their arms to do so. They would dangle their legs or over-extend their bodies and force themselves to pull their full body weight up the wall, when the larger and stronger muscles in their legs went unused. And some times you had to move sideways first before climbing further. Using these simple principles, Julia found herself near the top of the cave within about five minutes.

At the top of the wall was an opening just large enough to slip an arm through. Julia readjusted her grip on the wall and shined the light into the hole. It looked empty, but as Julia tilted her head, she noticed a slight curve in the narrow tunnel. Perhaps something lay just around the corner. Cautiously, she reached in. At first she felt nothing, but as she strained her fingers she felt something round and smooth. It felt like a bowl of some sort, and across the bowl was something thin and sharp.

Julia's arm jerked back as if on its own accord. A stinging pain resonated in her fingertips. The shadows in the tunnel came alive. Dozens of spiders, their dark exoskeletons gleaming in the light, swarmed out. They were on her immediately and, forgetting herself, Julia let go of the wall to brush at the spiders. As she fell, the flashlight beam struck the ceiling. It almost looked like a strand of spider silk - a line of white against the darkness - and Julia's fall ended abruptly.


	6. Korea

**Chapter 5**

The silver Cadillac limousine gleamed in the May sunlight, darting through the colorful sea of Hyundai and Kia cars crowding Seoul. Jin Kazama leaned back against the leather upholstery, watching cars nearly jostling each other like fish racing back to their spawning site. Wild and animalistic, those two words expressed everything Jin thought about Korean traffic.

Although it was moving at a good speed, many drivers revved their engines and flashed their high-beams - wolves growling and snapping white fangs at the flanks of their unfortunate prey. Jin felt his body lurch to the side, his head stopping just short of the window. A cacophony of horns sounded from behind like a flock of startled geese.

"Sorry, sorry," the chauffeur said as he steadied the car in the new lane. "If I had warned you to hold on, the space would have been gone before I finished." He turned to the window and yelled, "Ha! Take that. Those who leave space in traffic aren't worthy to fill them."

Yoji Seta was the only one among the group who seemed to be enjoying the trip. Of course, he had also been raised in Korea and was used to the harried attitudes of the native drivers - and thrived on it. Driving was his life, and he was the only one Jin could think of in his grandfather's organization who was good or crazy enough to drive through Asian cities and arrive emotionally unscathed. Anybody else would be shaking too much with either nervousness or frustration to drive, and consequently would probably not have a car to drive after being in wrecks many times over.

One of the bodyguards, Atsuo Oda, assigned by Heihachi to Jin as a precaution wedged his hands ever more firmly under his armpits. "Damn miserable country."

The car swayed, and Jin saw Yoji struggle slightly to regain control of the wheel. Jin glanced at the heavy man. "Oda, please."

"What? I just think -"

"Think what you want but don't say it in my or Seta's presence. We are in their country, and at the very least I want you to pretend you respect them."

"He ain't Korean -"

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear. We are here on Sufu's account. Regardless of what you feel about the Koreans, I will not have you embarrass him while we conduct his business. That goes for all of you." He looked around at the rest of the group.

"Yes, sir."

Atsuo hunched his shoulders and drew his bulk in tighter. Perhaps it was shame, but Jin felt it was more likely some sort of resentment - perhaps at Heihachi for sending him to Korea, and at Jin for not really needing a bodyguard. Now was not the time to show weakness in leadership though. The last thing Jin needed was to have Yoji so upset that he wouldn't be able to navigate Korea's traffic, and while protecting Yoji may have upset Atsuo, Yoji's driving was more important to Jin's safety than Atsuo's bulk. Besides, the big man probably would be able to use his repressed anger to his advantage should the need arise.

Yoji caught Jin's eye in the rear view mirror and nodded his thanks. Jin accepted it with a nod of his own and returned to staring out the window. In a way, he could understand Atsuo. Korea was in many ways similar to Japan: the congested streets, the fast pace lifestyle, even the entertainment such as going to bars to drink and sing at the end of a business day, and yet, to the older Japanese generation, it was also like a distorted vision of Japan. It was what Japan could have been had it been divided in half by different ideologies, a state of constant hostility to those who had once been family.

It was difficult to imagine Japan being split, and Jin didn't even bother trying as Yoji turned off the loop - a highway that was designed to circle the city, but had been under constant construction for years. There were more important things to think about. Being sent to Korea, wasn't something Jin had expected. There was something grandfather wasn't telling him. He knew it had to be a test of some sort, but what was grandfather testing? Leadership? Keeping the peace between a Korean-born Japanese, and an Japanese who hated everything he saw in Korea? It didn't seem like something grandfather would care about.

"We're heading into the actual city now," Yoji said, "so there's going to be a lot people. Probably so many I won't be able to drive you up to the dojang."

"That's fine, Seta. Go ahead and park in the closest public area you can find, and we'll walk the rest of the way."

Atsuo muttered something about a "dojo", but Jin decided to ignore it this time. He had to stay focused - there was a reason for him being in Korea and the sooner he figured it out, the more time he could prepare. The slowest response is one in surprise.

"Looks like the street market's still in full swing. Just a moment." Seta edged the car ever forward, tapping the horn every once in a while when one of the shoppers didn't move fast enough. "Ah, there we go. Want me to come with you?" Seta asked as he maneuvered into a public garage.

"No, Seta. Stay with the car. We'll be back shortly." Jin patted his coat pocket for the third time that morning. The invitation to the tournament was still there; so was the nagging feeling that he was missing something important. Master Baek would be a superb martial artist, of that there was no doubt, but what made him special enough for grandfather to send Jin to personally deliver the message?

The marketplace was like a highway for shoppers. People pushing each other aside as they made their way to their destinations. In place of horns were dozens of voices haggling and, in the air, the smell of cigarette smoke, fruit, and freshly caught fish replaced car exhaust. One of the street vendors shouted out to him as he passed, waving an orange or tangerine. He smiled politely and waved a hand in front of his face to decline. Beside him, Atsuo gruffly used a shoulder to fend off the vendor who tried a similar tactic. Jin was grateful the other two bodyguards followed his example and not Atsuo's.

"Enough ta make ya sick."

"Oda, it's not all that different from the marketplace at home."

"Except this isn't home."

"Then treat it as such for now. I do not want to talk to you about this again."

Atsuo said nothing, but put considerably more power in the next shove of his shoulder when another shopper pushed against him. The Korean let out a sound of surprise and said something curt, but melted back into the crowd before Atsuo had finished turning. Those who had witnessed the exchange began to give Atsuo a wider girth, and the foot traffic began to thin out as they broke out of the street market crowd.

The dojo was on the corner of a quiet street. A few more steps and he could hand Master Baek the invitation and leave. Could it really be this easy? As they approached, Jin noticed a gang of teenagers lounging across the street. They seemed to be carefully placed ... perhaps students of the dojo?

The one in the middle stood out. It was more than the motorcycle goggles atop his fiery hair that swept back like the head feathers of a bald eagle, or the lanky body that seemed to have been stretched out by tae kwon do. It was the way the others flanked him, almost as though they were soldiers protecting their revered general on the battlefield.

"Hey, Hwoarang," one of the gang members lightly tapped the one in the middle before jerking his chin towards Jin's group. The other gang members seemed to awaken from a light slumber as they followed the first gang member's eyes and began rearing up to their full heights. The middle one, however, didn't move anything but his eyes, and didn't seem the least bit surprised at anything. He laid casually on his side, propped up by an elbow, but his eyes locked with Jin with such intensity that Jin had to tear his gaze away to concentrate on getting to the dojo.

Jin was at the stairway leading to the dojo's entrance when a voice called out from behind.

"Hey, pretty boy, you wanna learn tae kwon do, I can teach you."

Jin turned and grabbed Atsuo's shoulder before the large man could blindly throw himself towards the gang. "Don't."

"Oh, we've got a live one here," the gang leader said. "See how he snarls? What pretty teeth. Come. Come here, boy, maybe I've got a treat for you." The gang leader gestured with his forefinger, calling them to him as though they were dogs.

"Let go of me, Kazama-San. Your grandfather would never stand for this."

Jin released Atsuo who strode over to the gang. "I hear you're teaching tae kwon do," he said cracking his knuckles. "I'd like a demonstration."

"Of course, of course," Hwoarang said. "When all you've seen is that weak ass karate, the power of tae kwon do must seem unbelievable. I would demand proof too." Hwoarang pushed himself to his feet, clapping the dust from his faded jeans. "You got any money for lessons?"

Atsuo pulled a wallet from his coat pocket and dropped it at his feet. "You beat me, you can pick it up."

"Must think you're fast, huh. I'll tell you what: if you can block my punch then I'll show you more." Hwoarang rolled his shoulders forward a few times. "Ready?"

Jin saw the subtle shift of the gang leader's body, something Atsuo couldn't see because he was too close. Not even Jin's trained eyes could follow the kicks, only the tilt of Hwoarang's body told Jin which direction they came from. The first kick hit somewhere on Atsuo's left thigh, the second struck the hip, and a third came up and around to strike Atsuo on the side of the head. As Atsuo staggered to his knees, Hwoarang gave him a quick jab to the jaw, more of a shove than a punch, but it was enough to send Atsuo flat on the ground.

Hwoarang shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you're ready to learn tae kwon do yet. Karate is more suited for you people with no imagination." He had just picked up the wallet when Jin stepped in front grabbing Hwoarang's wrist.

"Hey, get offa me, pretty boy. The money's mine, fair and square."

"You cheated."

"How so? I said to block the punch, and he didn't. Never said the punch had to come first."

Jin tightened his grip and ripped the wallet out of Hwoarang's hand and tossed it to one of the other bodyguards. With both hands, he shoved Hwoarang back against his gang. "You disrespect us, and then try to cheat us ... maybe it's time someone taught you a lesson."

Hwoarang shrugged off the gang members who had kept him from hitting the ground and glared at Jin before recovering his composure and bringing back his lizard-like smirk. "Many have tried, none have succeeded."

"There's always a first time," Jin said raising his hands up to guard his body.

"Not this time though. Block the punch."

Jin took a half-step forward as Hwoarang flicked out his left hand. Tae kwon do had hand strikes, but its trademark and power was in kicking. Chances were the punch was a fake, an attempt to get Jin to step back where a kick could reach its full force. He felt the punch hit his forearm without any force behind it, and knew he had been right in his assessment; the punch had never been intended to hit Jin. Immediately, he dropped his right knee to the ground and brought his left hand down to block the front kick just below the kneecap. He shot his right fist out, driving it hard into the Korean's gut, doubling him over, before delivering an uppercut as he stood.

As Hwoarang reeled back, Jin took another half-step forward, planting his front foot firmly on the ground and pivoting his body. The roundhouse kick whipped Hwoarang's body sideways and back where he collapsed against the staircase he'd been lounging on only minutes before. Jin stepped out of kicking range and waited to see if Hwoarang would continue.

Hwoarang shook his head a few times and pushed himself up. "You're pretty good. Might have to start taking you seriously." He got back into a fighting stance. He held his hands like Jin, like a boxer, but his feet were much closer together and he seemed to be almost bouncing in place.

'Wasteful,' thought Jin. 'Eager and cocky. He'll attack - street thugs always do. Best to play defensively, block and counterattack.'

He watched carefully, waiting for an opening as Hwoarang continued dancing around. Sidestepping a low kick, Jin moved around Hwoarang's blind-side when a back kick slammed into his rib cage. Wincing, Jin took a step back, and another step back, unable to find solid footing.

The edge of Hwoarang's hand struck his cheekbone - it felt as though it had shattered. Jin reached out, trying to find something to steady him. As the ground rushed up to catch him, he saw Hwoarang stretch his leg up as though to kick the sun out of the sky. Desperately, Jin twisted, trying to move his body out of the way. The axe kick fell on the edge of his left shoulder, barely missing collarbone which was probably its target, and there was a loud crunch. In the instant that he felt his arm go limp, Jin instinctively lashed out with his other hand, catching Hwoarang just above the kneecap.

Hwoarang howled and hopped backward, trailing his leg behind him before collapsing to the street. Immediately, Hwoarang's gang and Jin's bodyguards rushed forward, dragging the two combatants apart and onto their feet like medics pulling wounded off a battlefield.

Jin gritted his teeth. It felt as though some dam in his arm had cracked and the pressure was pushing blood out of his shoulder, eroding the bone as it went. He clasped his working hand over the shoulder as though to hold it all together. In the background, he could hear Hwoarang yelling and screaming.

"Goddamn, get off me. Get off! I can still take him. Get over here, Jap, I swear I'll kick your ass back to your inferior country."

"Get back, punk," one of Jin's bodyguards said, shoving one of the gang members. They seemed ready to continue where Jin and Hwoarang left off until a guttural voice called from the door of the dojo.

"What is going on out here? Hwoarang? Hwoarang, get over here. Inside! All of you. How dare you publicly disgrace this dojang with your street brawling."

At the sight of the older man, even Hwoarang seemed to deflate. Firing off one last glare at Jin before he turned away, Hwoarang limped after the rest of his gang into the dojang and received a swat on the back of the head from Baek.

When his students had passed, Baek turned to Jin, gesturing for them his group to approach. His eyes never lost the narrowed look of a man staring towards the distant horizon at the sun. "I'd recognize those eyebrows anywhere. What do you want, Mishima?"

"Kazama," Jin corrected. "Master Baek, I come with business from my grandfather, Mishima Heihachi." He let go of his shoulder long enough to pull the invitation from his coat and hand it to Baek. "He requests the honor of having you participate in the third Iron Fist tournament."

"Kazama, huh?" Baek eyes flicked down paper, but didn't stay long enough for him to have possibly read it all. "Your grandfather has no concept of honor. You know that, don't you?"

"He took me in when I had nowhere else to go and trained me to look after myself."

"People do the same when training dogs to fight. They feed them and train them, and then send them out to get killed. So long as they get money, the people don't care about the animals they destroy. Is that honor, Kazama?"

With no reply, Jin turned his face away.

"Let us hope you don't follow your father or your grandfather's path. You carry on your mother's name ... perhaps you will carry on her legacy too. I will be at your grandfather's tournament." Baek gave a polite bow and left.


	7. Gifts from Kokyanwuhti

**Chapter 6**

"Julia ... Julia."

Julia groaned and tried to open her eyes. "Mother? Is that you?" She couldn't see anything. Whether it was because she had gone blind or was dead she couldn't tell. Moving her right arm sent a splintering of pain through her shoulder.

"Definitely not dead yet," she said to herself. "Hurts too much."

How far had she fallen? Twenty feet? Certainly a fall a human could survive provided she didn't land on her head or land on anything that could skewer or cut a major blood vessel so she'd bleed to death, but as she pushed herself off the ground she noticed that only her right shoulder hurt. There didn't seem to be any bruises or cuts on her that would indicate she'd hit the ground.

Her vision was still blurred. Her glasses weren't on, but then she was far sighted. A scuttling movement from above snapped her attention up. Six eyes peered down at her above eight legs.

"Kokyanwuhti," Julia whispered.

The Spider Woman seemed to float in the darkness. "Daughter, child of the corn, I know why you have come. I have sensed the release of the Ancient Enemy, the god of fighting, the devourer of souls."

"Kokyanwuhti, how was it freed?"

"As it has always been: greed, the lust of fear, the desire for power has freed Ogre. I defeated it so many years ago to protect our people, but I had not the power to kill it. My children guarded it, but time has altered the weapons of man and they could not stop its awakening. The people who have called Ogre are ruthless and seek to use Ogre as the weapon it was created to be, but they have not the strength to fully control it. I know your fears, child, but it must be so that I call upon you as the wearer of the hochichvi pendant to gather the warriors to fight against the Ancient Enemy."

Julia bowed her head. "I'm ... I'm not the one you want, Mother. There are others who are stronger, who are leaders, who people will listen to and follow. I am only here because I am a failure and shame of the tribe."

"You are here," the Spider Woman said, "because you have heard my calling. Just as your mother did."

Julia gasped. "You mean Michelle was doing as you asked? Where is she? What happened?"

"I cannot answer all your questions, child, for there are limits to even my knowledge. Michelle has answered to me for a long time. It was I who called her out to those ruins eighteen years ago to bring you home. It was I who told her to find the men responsible for raising the god of fighting. I was able to watch over her for part of the journey, but now that part of my web has become dark and I can no longer guide her.

"There is much that has already fallen upon your shoulders, dear child, and I know it will be an arduous and dangerous journey, but you are the only one that can save your people now. They are blinded, lost in the past mistakes when the devourer of souls had first arrived. It was their own fear that ate them, child. Ogre was just the manifestation of their fears. The Ancient Ones were tore apart from the inside out. Again they have turned upon each other, but you must look beyond that. You are the water-bearer, the wearer of the hochichvi pendant, and now the Ogre-Slayer."

"But how am I to fight a god?"

"Have as much faith in the Creator as the Creator has in you, daughter. Ogre is a false god. It has only as much power over you as you give it. Just as blood can call it, blood can dismiss it. Look to the Mother Earth, child, and go with my blessings."

The Spider Woman ascended back into the darkness.

"Wait!" Julia called after her. Gone. "Look to the Mother Earth," Julia repeated. At her feet was the familiar handle of her flashlight. It turned on like someone who had been woken up far too early, its eyesight flickering and dim. She pointed it at the ground. She noticed at her feet was a strangely carved bowl not much bigger than her fist.

The inside was ridged and mountainous. In the half-light it almost look like the contours of a face with the mouth open in a cruel smile. Beside the bowl was a blade of obsidian which, judging from the glass smooth edge, had somehow survive centuries without chipping or being ground into powder. There was no way these fragile artifacts could have survived a fall from the top of the cave walls; they had to have been placed there by Kokyanwuhti.

Cautiously, Julia picked the bowl and knife up. She gasped as she felt the warmth sucked from her body. The shock sent her to one knee and she fought not to drop the bowl and knife. It was over in seconds, and the turquoise in the necklace took on an bioluminescent glow for a moment before darkening and slowly returning to the ambient temperature.

"It's coming," she whispered. She could feel it - called down from the ages, a dark god rising like clouds to cover the moon. It was all chiseled muscle and flashing teeth laughing with the flesh of sacrifices rotting between the white kernels. Corn fed the people and people fed the corn. The air moved behind her and Julia instinctively rolled to the side, shielding the knife and bowl from impact. Could it have found her already? She looked around but there was no one there.

Gathering the artifacts into her backpack with the water jar, Julia hurried and began crawling out of the cavern. When she emerged from the narrow passage, she was aware of a foreign presence within the cave. As she came up to her feet, she saw a thin figure kneeling in the distance. The white face, with its painted cat features, was unmistakable. "Kunimitsu!"

The ninja cocked her head to the side like a feline hiding beneath a car as it looked out at traffic. "Easy, child of the corn. I'm not here to fight you, but to warn you. Heihachi has your mother now. In three weeks, the third Iron Fist tournament will be held. Heihachi extends his invitation to you."

"I don't trust you. Besides, what keeps you from trying to kill me and take the pendant back yourself?"

"You assume that I am loyal to Heihachi. If there's anything you shouldn't be trusting, it's that assessment. Doing these jobs for him are simply steps towards my own goals."

"Which is?"

"No, child," Kunimitsu said, shaking her head. "You'll not have that power over me. It is not for me to bring you or the pendant to Heihachi now - I am simply a messenger. The choice to save your mother is yours."

Kunimitsu pulled a thin white blade from her shirt and laid it on the ground. "Here," she said. "A gift to get you started."

It wasn't until after Kunimitsu left that Julia approached the object and picked it up. Like a butterfly opening its wings, the paper slid apart and dropped a plane ticket into her lap.


	8. Phoenix Rising

**Chapter 7**

Xiaoyu Ling awoke to the sound of a mournful cry - a howl that haunts the dreams of children. The blankets slipped off her slim body as she rose from her bed and shuddered. Again the howl rose up from somewhere downstairs before breaking down into a series of sobbing groans. Tip-toeing down the dark hallway, Xiaoyu kept close to the wall for support. Seven steps to the bottom of the staircase and two rights to the family room. Opening the door, Xiaoyu found herself facing the bent frame of a old, wizened man who would not be out of place in any ghost story.

"Uncle Wang," she admonished. "I thought I warned you about your training." Guiding him to a waiting cushion, Xiaoyu fisted her hands and pounded out a rhythm on his lower back until the muscles loosened. "It's barely five, Uncle Wang. Why can't you be like all the other old men in the village and be sleeping now?"

"Watch your tongue around your elders, young lady," he said. "I've never missed a day of training in eighty years. I'm not going to start now. If you took your training more seriously, you could easily become one of the youngest masters of Baguazhang and Piguaquan."

"I do take my training seriously. I've already learned the Art of Phoenix."

Wang scoffed. "I taught you that nearly two weeks ago."

Xiaoyu smiled and wagged an index finger. "Not like this you didn't." Stepping back, Xiaoyu brought her body low to the ground and extended both arms up and behind her in a stance that resembled a resting butterfly. She shuffled forward and jabbed out her fingers to strike an imaginary opponent in the groin before executing two jumps forward, turning as she went so that both feet would sweep across her opponent's face twice. She landed cleanly and delivered a chin high kick designed to knock someone head over heels backward. Finished, she faced Wang and placed her right fist to her open left palm and extended it to him as a sign of respect.

"So you have been practicing," Wang murmured. "If only you were so diligent with your school studies."

"I told you, Uncle Wang," she said as she stomped a pink slippered foot. "Sifu Tong hates me."

"Don't blame your failings on others, Xiaoyu."

"But it's true! Besides when I am going to need math anyway? I'm going to own the biggest amusement park in the world and have more money than I can count."

"Xiaoyu," Wang said, smiling. "The amount of money you can count is directly related to your schooling. At your rate, giving you enough money that you can't count it wouldn't be all that much. You're not planning on letting everyone into the world's biggest amusement park for free just because you don't want to deal with numbers are you? Someday you must learn that sometimes you must learn what you don't want to."

"Sounds like learning that defeats itself."

"Reinforces," Wang corrected. "Not learning it is a costly mistake. What do you plan to do with your amusement park if you don't want to deal with finances?"

"Well ... I'll hire someone to do it."

"And if they're dishonest?"

"I'll only hire my friends."

"That doesn't guarantee honesty. Look at the Mishimas." Wang shook his head. "Now there's a shame."

"Who are the Mishimas?"

"They're an old family," Wang said. "I trained with Jinapei who had a good heart - he wanted only the best for his son, Heihachi, and spent long days at the office to provide him with everything a person could want. But what is money to a child? Time ... that is all that matters to the young and to the old. It wasn't until Heihachi was grown that Jinapei realized his folly, but by then it was too late. No longer wanting to spend any more time in the office, Jinapei transferred control of Mishima Financial to Heihachi and, in time, Heihachi had a son as well - Kazuya.

"Sadly, Jinapei watched as the beast that had stolen his time away from Heihachi stole Heihachi's time from Kazuya. Seeking to make up for his mistake, Jinapei took care of Kazuya in Heihachi's stead. Unfortunately, Heihachi, having grown up fending for himself, felt that Kazuya was being spoiled and sought a way to undo Jinapei's softening influence. So he took Kazuya to a high mountain in the eastern part of Japan and held him out by one leg over the rocky precipice."

Xiaoyu gasped. "How could he do that to his own son?"

"Much evil has been done in the name of love. As for Kazuya, it was never clear whether he simply slipped from Heihachi's hand or was purposefully dropped. What is clear is that the five year old who clawed his way back to the top of the mountain was not the same one who fell. While that was the most dramatic attempt at reforming Kazuya, it was not the only one. Heihachi later adopted a Chinese orphan, Lee Cholan, to be raised as a sibling rival to Kazuya, but even as skilled as Lee would become he could not cool the fires raging in the young Mishima. It was at that time that Heihachi held the first Iron Fist tournament, Tekken, to determine the greatest fighter in the world. The title and control of Mishima Financial were offered as prizes."

"Were you invited, Uncle Wang?"

"I was, and I did attend - but only to learn of what happened to my old friend Jinapei. When I learned of his death, I forfeited the competition. By then, it was clear that the final contest would be between Kazuya and his father. Kazuya won that time and, in vengeance, threw his father's body over the edge of the same cliff he had fallen down as a child."

"Geez, Uncle Wang, this is too much. Let me sit down." Xiaoyu plopped herself onto a nearby floor pillow, tucking her legs beneath her. She had always believed that Uncle Wang had participated in contests before, but she had always imagined them as local sparing matches - nothing so grand as the "Greatest Fighter in the World."

At the same time, the story about the Mishima family seemed too horrible to be true. "How can a family like that exist?" she asked.

"It can't," Wang replied. "I would never call what the Mishimas have a family."

"So Kazuya killed his father?"

"That's what his intentions were, but Heihachi was strong and survived somehow. Later, he returned to challenge Kazuya again, this time at the second Iron Fist tournament. This tournament was to decide who would ultimately control the Mishima Corporation. The final fight was held on the edge of a live volcano, and the loser was to be thrown into the bubbling lava. I participated in hopes of dissuading Heihachi from confronting his son, but they were like wild fires. Only the elimination of the fuel source would extinguish their hate. There was no avoiding this fight."

"So who won?"

"Heihachi. Although it is rumored that Kazuya had a son with one of the fighters in the second tournament. Who she is or where she disappeared to was never revealed."

"Do you think the rumor is true?"

"If so, I pity the poor boy if he ever returns. May his mother keep him safe. As for you, I expect some studying out of you. I want to see grades worthy of the owner of the greatest amusement park in the world."


	9. An Open Invitation

**Chapter 8**

Hwoarang Choi stood away from the door, his back to the mirrored wall of the dojang. Just over his master's shoulder he could see the Japanese pull something out of his jacket and hand it to Baek. They exchanged words briefly and then the Japanese placed his right hand over his left shoulder as though to hold it in place as they bowed to each other and turned away.

'Yeah, you'd better run,' Hwoarang wanted to call out. 'Japs. Cowards. Dogs.' He had many names for the Japanese, but this was not the time for them. Baek turned the paper in his hand over a few times as he walked back into the dojang before slipping into his dobok. Baek pointed to the ground at his feet and the gang knelt to the ground in front of him. Hwoarang was the last to knell.

Hwoarang pushed his knuckles deeper into the padded floor. He had laughed before when other students had displeased Master Baek and were forced to show their submission to him and had vowed long ago to never be in this position. Fortunately, the school was closed at the moment so only Hwoarang, his gang, and Baek were around so nobody was laughing.

Not that it really mattered, Hwoarang thought. Anyone foolish enough to laugh at him would later be picking up their teeth up from sidewalk. That was the only comforting thought he had as Baek lorded over him.

"I have told you about your public brawling before. I will tolerate it no longer. This is not why I taught you tae kwon do. You especially, Hwoarang, I expected much better from you."

Knowing he should keep his mouth shut, Hwoarang was horrified when he found words spewing from his mouth. "Well, what did you teach me for? You must have expected this. It's the only thing I'm good at. I'd rather die than be a fetching dog for the Japanese. Coming every time they call."

"Silence!" Baek tightened his fists for a moment before slowly relaxing them. "Don't mistake civility for submission. You can be civil and still be on guard. Do you know why you get into so many fights, Hwoarang? Not just because you go out looking for them. Even if you didn't start them you'd still get into fights. No, you get into fights because you show off too much. People want to challenge you because you're always bragging."

"Well, I've a right to. I'm the best there is."

"Really? If so why did you let me stop you out there, hm? You could have easily taken another shot at him. One more would have been all you needed to finish the fight, right? Prove you're best? But you didn't. Why?" Baek paused and regarded Hwoarang's leg. "Don't tell me this little bump was too much pain."

Hwoarang let out his breath in a hiss, struggling to not throw himself at Baek in his rage.

"What's the matter? Hit a nerve in more places than one?" Baek chided. "It was the bruise to your ego that kept you down. The fear that you had met your match. Use that match to start a fire within you. Stoke it and then temper it with discipline. That is the path to victory. That goes to all of you. Now, up. There's plenty of work that needs to be around the dojang and since you have excess energy let's put it to use." Baek began handing out brooms.

*** * ***

Bo nudged Hwoarang. "Yo, Hwoarang. Ten minutes and we split."

Hwoarang looked around the dojang to find that Baek was nowhere in sight. He must have left to get something to eat before the midday classes. The ten minute window was just to make sure that Baek was really gone and would not come back too soon in case he forgot something on his way out. "I can't. Baek asked me to help teach the junior class."

"Aw, come on, man. Screw the kiddies. They'll learn one way or another. Either here or on the street like us."

"We didn't learn everything on the streets. Baek looked after us," Hwoarang reminded Bo.

"Yeah, and look how we turned out. Besides we're still kids, and it's unhealthy for kids to not go outside and play. Don't tell me you're going soft, man."

Hwoarang snapped the broom that Bo held in half with a knife strike.

Bo dropped the two pieces of wood and backed away. "Okay, man. Chill. I didn't know you took the kiddies so seriously, but what if we need you out there?"

"If you need me then you don't deserve the money."

"I guess, but we all know you take the largest cut."

"That's because I do the most work. If you don't think that's fair, feel free to negotiate." Hwoarang shifted his feet to prepare for an attack.

Bo backed away further. "It's cool, man. You know, you deserve a break. Take it easy here with the kiddies. We'll get some money and meet up with you later."

Hwoarang jerked his head towards the door. "Get going. I'll cover for all of you." He watched them toss their cleaning supplies in a corner of the room and scramble out of the dojang like squirrels sensing a predator. Hwoarang went back to sweeping. The dojang was empty, yet he did not feel alone. This was home. As misguided as the rest of his gang was, Hwoarang knew that it was here that he learned to fight, to defend what was his, to live. It had been a place to let out his pain, to focus it to a finely honed knife to jab into the ribs of those who sought to keep him down in the gutters. He had been given a future here, regardless of whether it was the future Baek had hoped for a little boy on the streets.

He had spent years in this very room, staying after class to learn advanced moves from the older students and sometimes even from Baek himself. With Tae Kwon Do, he had finally found something he excelled at. As his reflexes quickened and his muscles learned the movements so completely that they soon became instinctive, he had found that there were few who could hope to match him. Today was his first draw, the first time he had actually been put to the ground without allowing it, and that was the most painful feeling of all - that he had been powerless to stop it. Perhaps he would have won, but it would have been just as much luck as it would be skill and that was no way to win a fight. The broomstick handle snapped in his hands. Startled he looked at the splintered ends briefly before easing the tension in his arms that had been building since he started thinking about his last fight.

"They'll never amount to much." Hwoarang jumped at Baek's voice behind him. "Relax," Baek told him. "I know where they're headed. I'm hoping you won't follow. That's why I taught you tae kwon do. Discipline. Focus. How's the leg? Better than that broom, I hope."

"It's all right."

Baek gestured for Hwoarang to approach. Hwoarang's eyes were level with Baek, both teacher and student were tall and lanky. They stood motionless for a long time before, without warning, Baek lashed out. Hwoarang instinctively blocked the low kick with his left leg and used the solidarity of Baek's stance to push himself back and away from any successive attacks.

"Good. You see?" Baek asked. "Tae kwon do is not just a technique for fighting. It is a way of life and the path to death - balanced on the ridge of your hand. It teaches you to always be ready, to never underestimate your opponent, to take the hits and keep fighting. This is what I hope you would have learned throughout these years, but you're like an unruly wind: light, swift, but lacking substance. Focus your energy, concentrate inward and become like a hurricane. Calm your center and you will become a whirlwind of fury to your enemies."

"Is that what you're going to do at the tournament?" When Baek eyed him, Hwoarang continued, "I could hear your conversation."

"I will."

"Let me go in your place, Master."

"You? Why? You've always told me that your fighting is for the streets, not tournaments. Why do you think I never bring you to them despite being one of my most talented students?"

"Because that Jap is gonna be there and I intend to settle the score."

Baek swatted the back of his head. "Don't be so hasty. Focus now. The Iron Fist tournament is very special. It's sponsored by a very rich Japanese named Mishima Heihachi who, if you really overheard the conversation, is Kazama's grandfather. You are fighting on their turf and that is not something to be taken lightly. You're not ready yet, Hwoarang."

"I'll be back in the morning, Master. I'll show you that I'm ready."

Baek nodded. It was a lesson that would take time to teach Hwoarang. Finding your center didn't mean everything centered around you, but there would be time to teach him this lesson tomorrow. He watched Hwoarang snatch up his leather jacket that hung at the dojang's entrance and storm out the door in the vain and useless manner of a summer rain.

*** * ***

At dusk, Baek closed the door to the dojang and began folding the padded mats and stacking them against one of the walls in the corner. Once a combination of scarlet and azure reminiscent of the Korean flag, they had become dingy, a few had even been broken open and had to be fixed with duct tape. One of these days he would have to scrape up the money to purchase new equipment. Satisfied that the dojang was once again back in some semblance of order, Baek sat at the desk in the back office. Most of the lights had been turned off after Hwoarang left to wherever he decided to spend the night, and shadows crept in from the corners to sit like a pack of hungry wolves at the edge of the light.

A binder had been left open on his desk. Sighing, Baek took a pen from a nearby holder and placed a large zero within the column for this month's new registrations. He totaled up the money from registrations and slowly opened the stack of envelopes that had been placed in a wire bin at the desk's corner and began totaling those. When finished, he shook his head and reached for a red pen. It was the MMA "sport" that was doing this - rotting the core behind the idea of combative arts. It had started out under the premise of pitting style against style, no time limits or weight divisions to simulate a real world fight. The reasoning was that a smaller fighter would have to have better style or skill to negate the physical strength advantage of a larger opponent. All of this was slowly eroded to just large people clubbing each other with fists bigger than their brains; there was no strategy, no art to it. It had morphed into its own "style" of fighting and advertised as the only real-life self defense system. Why? Because they didn't get true masters of the respective arts in the beginning tournaments.

Did they ask Baek to represent Tae Kwon Do? Did they have Marshall represent Jeet Kun Do or Ganryu to show the power of sumo? No. They got no names with paper degrees in martial arts. The sumo they put in the first cage match stood upright and just walked into kicks until his knee gave out and said later that his whole strategy was to "take some damage" but that he didn't expect to take so much. Stupid! Most of the martial arts school in the United States, which started the whole MMA syndication, were paper mills giving honorary degrees. The black belts weren't black belts because of their actual skill, but because they've spent enough time, and sometimes not even that. Baek figured they just got promoted to the next rank every year just because that was what is expected. What was he to do? Had he volunteered to fight, he would have had a problem of a different sort. Becoming "King of the Cage" just meant you had to keep coming back. You couldn't prove yourself just once and leave. You had to keep defending that title and sooner or later the odds would catch up to you.

MMA was all the craze now and there was nothing that Baek could do about it. The world had already ruled out traditional martial arts as just "sports" or "ways to stay fit." Even that didn't trickle down much to Baek's school because he didn't teach kickboxing in the contemporary sense of the world. Tae Kwon Do had kicks and punches, but in a style that required discipline of the mind, not just conditioning of the body. To use Tae Kwon Do required a certain amount of finesse, not just kicking banana trees with your bare shins to make them into clubs or punching in rhythm to some beatbox music and pretending you're in a club. It all seemed so ridiculous.

Baek placed the pen back in the holding cup and closed his eyes as he shut the binder. Another month of more expenses than revenue. Replacing the padded mats would have to wait. There was the sound of wood splintering and the door to the dojang was thrown from its hinges. Baek's eyes snapped open and he was on his feet before the door fell to the floor. Framed in the light was a tall, heavy figure.

"Get out," yelled Baek as he grabbed a staff from a weapon rack.

From the shadows, he could see a set of teeth smiling at him. "Baek Doo San: Master of Tae Kwon Do. Come face me, Ogre, the Night Drinker."

Baek twirled the staff around his body and brought it down hard atop of the figure's head. The staff snapped in half. Unfazed, Baek took the half he held and jabbed the jagged end into the figure's chest. A large fist crashed into the side of Baek's head, sending him hard into the floor. Turning onto his back, Baek watched his opponent step forward, nonchalantly brushing at the splinters sticking out from its chest. It was massive, with eyes that glowed red in the darkness and teeth that chattered with the laughter of murder.

Quickly, Baek kicked from the ground at its knee, pushing it back while he positioned himself back and onto his feet. Not wasting any breath in taunting the creature, Baek lashed out at its knees twice before side-stepping and kicking up to catch his opponent right beneath the chin. The head whipped back with enough force to put a man out for good, but instead of falling limply to the ground, it landed solidly on its back and rolled to its feet. It grinned again.

"This shall be most fun. A delicious battle and when you are broken, you shall become just another part of me."

Baek switched stances and attacked again. He had to keep moving, attack from unpredictable angles, hitting fast and hard. Sooner or later the damage would add up to the point where either the mind or the body would fail and give up. After a particularly good combination of kicks that staggered the creature, Baek jumped and spun, stretching out his rear foot so that by the time he rotated 180 degrees it would be fully extended and at the height of its velocity when it struck his opponent's temple. Instead of contact, his foot flew right past its head as it ducked down. A hand clamped down on his ankle and jerked down. Baek crashed into the hardwood floor, but the hand didn't let go. Instead, it jerked him sideways, swinging him up and around by his leg. When it did let go, Baek went flying into weapon racks lined against the wall, snapping spears, staves, and sending practice swords sprawling around him.

He had barely been able to push himself up to his feet when Ogre was next to him. Baek threw out a punch, but Ogre blocked it by raising its forearm. Its other hand shot forward and crashed into Baek's chest to send him head over heels backwards. He skidded to a stop lying on his back.

Ogre lifted him up by the lapel of his dobak. "Like that one? I learned it from someone you knew - Jun Kazama. And now I will drink your soul as I did hers." It opened its mouth and inhaled.

It was a strange feeling staring into that dark mouth. Baek's vision clouded and all he could hear was the air being sucked down Ogre's throat. He felt as if his lungs were collapsing, like a hand was clenching down on his chest and pulling the very soul from his body. In the whiteness of his vision, she appeared. Jun Kazama was as he remembered her from the second tournament. She had the same wisdom in her eyes, the same clean and simple beauty of purity and he suddenly felt as though his struggle was misguided. This being - this Ogre - was offering him what had been denied in life, a chance to be with Jun, to be one with her, merged so completely their souls would be intertwined. Jun turned to Baek and shook her head.

"Keep fighting, Baek. You mustn't give up." She pushed back when he reached for her. "You cannot help me here. Your presence will only strengthen it. Escape. Deny it its source of power and give my son the allies he needs."

The Ogre appeared behind her and with a single backhand sent Jun's image flying to pieces. Baek instinctively attacked. He speared his fingers into its left eye and felt the orb give way beneath the strike. The creature howled and weight returned to Baek's body.

He found himself on the ground at Ogre's feet. The beast was still holding the left side of its face, blood running thickly between its fingers. Baek decided against further attacks on Ogre - the adrenaline rush from the injury would kick in soon and there was no guarantee he would be able to attack the other eye. He had escaped its clutches once and wasn't about to press his luck now. He pushed himself onto his feet and ran.

From behind, he could hear the beast raging within the dojang. Baek kicked off a wall and onto a nearby side ladder that would normally be used as a fire escape and climbed to the roof. From his vantage point he watched Ogre burst through the side door into the alley had escaped to and hunt furiously for a few moments before ripping open a manhole cover and descending into the darkness. Ogre reached out and pulled the cover back over the hole and all was silent again.

Only when Baek was sure that Ogre had left did he climb down to the street level and reenter the dojang. Nothing within it had been spared Ogre's wrath. The weapon racks, the desk, training dummies, all of it had been smashed apart. Baek reached into his dobak and pulled out the envelope he had received from Jin.

"For you, Jun," he whispered. "I will live with only your memory. I will give your son the best ally I can provide whether he is ready or not." Baek placed the invitation upon the broken desk where he was sure Hwoarang would find it and left.


	10. The Iron Fist Tournament

Part II: The Iron Fist Tournament

**Chapter 9**

Julia allowed the attendant to open the door to her room and carry her bags in. She began to reach into her wallet for a tip when the man waved a hand in front of her.

"You're here for the tournament. We expect nothing from you but your earnest participation." And with that, he tipped his burgundy hat and left.

The room was larger than she expected, at least the equivalent of the living room, dining room, and kitchen of her apartment in Flagstaff. Over the bed was a framed photograph of one of Arizona's slot canyons, probably Antelope Canyon. Polished by water for millions of years, the sandstone resembled unevenly lathed wood. A single light beam cut through the center of the picture to highlight a turn in the natural tunnel. Judging from the lighting, it had been taken during the summer months when the sun was high enough to shine into the canyon and bring out the rich reds hidden in the rocks' shadows.

On the wall opposite the photo was a side door which, when opened, revealed another door. Julia shrugged at the architecture and picked up her black duffel bag and laid it on the bed. Spread across the queen size mattress was a Hopi blanket. Julia recognized the geometric patterns in the corners and simple striped pattern of red, black, and gold in the body. On the dresser were delicately carved and hand-painted Katsinam dolls.

Julia didn't recognize the workmanship, but it must have been expensive. She could clearly see the veins standing out along the outstretched arms of Tawa, the sun god. All the shell beads, turquoise, and eagle tail feathers were just like its real world counterpart. The Eototo doll, the Katsinam Chief, carried a miniature gourd in its left hand.

Off in the corner, beside a small table, was a traditionally woven basket, and on the table was an earthen water jar and cups. Small details, but each brought back a piece of home and that scared Julia for how could Heihachi have done this without having eyes on the Hopitu? How long and how closely had he been watching? And was every room decorated in the heritage of its occupant? A soft knock on the side door drew her attention.

A teenage girl's face poked out between the open door and its frame. "Anyone home?" The Asian girl's eyes brightened when they fell on Julia. "Hey, all right. You're here."

"I'm sorry. Were you expecting me?"

"I was expecting someone. It wouldn't do to put me in this suite alone. Wow! Looks like they did your room too. How cool is that? Oh, where are my manners? I'm Ling Xiaoyu."

She gave a polite bow.

"Julia Chang." She returned the foreign gesture to be polite.

"Julia Chang?" A look of realization crossed Xiaoyu's face. She gave herself a mock heel strike to the forehead. "Oh yeah. Westerners have their family names last. So, Chang ... are you Chinese too?"

"Not really."

"Half and half?"

"My mom is."

"Well, wouldn't that make you a quarter?"

"I'm adopted."

"Figures. The one time I use math willingly and it doesn't apply. So I take it you're here for the tournament. Boy, I tell you, they've got some scary looking contestants." Xiaoyu took this opportunity to blow up her cheeks and hang her arms to the side like a gorilla.

Julia chuckled despite herself. Xiaoyu seemed to be the antithesis of a contestant for "the world's greatest fighter." Her arms, while toned and proportioned to her body, were rather thin and her pink floral dress and short pigtails held by transparent beads gave her the appearance of a girl more interested in laying on her bed and talking on the phone rather than physical training. Yet there was definitely an undercurrent of confidence running beneath her giddy schoolgirl appearance.

"Ah, so I can make you smile! That's good. I was afraid I might be the only young woman here. Everyone else acts so old and serious."

"I'm sure they have their reasons," Julia said. She thought of Michelle - hidden somewhere in this compound - alone, deprived, and beaten. Her thoughts were interrupted by Xiaoyu.

"Oh, I'm sure they have their reasons, but none of them are as ambitious as mine! When I win this tournament, Heihachi promised to build me the greatest amusement park in the world."

"You're doing all this for an amusement park?"

"Why not? What's life if you're not having fun?"

'Responsibility,' thought Julia. 'A constant struggle, an endless quest for love and acceptance. The heavy burden of the earth to keep you from floating away.'

"There's going to be a feast tonight since it's the night before the tournament begins. Wanna go?"

"Actually," Julia said. "I'm sorry, but it's been a long trip. Would you mind if I finish unpacking and get situated first?"

"Not at all. Need some help?" Xiaoyu reached for the small backpack that held the ritual knife and bowl.

"No, no. I'm okay. I just need some time to myself."

"Oh," Xiaoyu said, looking disappointed. "Well, okay. I'll wait in my room for you. Make sure you get me before you go."

It wasn't until after Xiaoyu left that Julia noticed that her breathing had become shallow. The constant waves of questions made her feel as though she were drowning. She snatched the backpack from the bed. That was too close. It was enough that Heihachi knew she was here with the pendant. She had to keep the other artifacts secret for as long as she could for they were her only hidden advantage.

'But,' she thought, 'I can't keep them safe alone. I can only carry them with me for so long. When it's my turn to fight, what then?'

She sighed. There was only so much she could do without allies. While she was hesitant to trust Xiaoyu, she knew the Chinese girl was right about one thing: most of the other contestants were scary looking.

Most of them were much older than her, in their mid thirties or forty, old enough to have shared a long history with Heihachi. Any one of them could have been on his payroll. Xiaoyu sounded as though she was eager to be on that list as well, but it could also just be naïveté. Out of the characters she'd seen, Xiaoyu was the most obvious choice to partner with. But then what if that's what Heihachi intended? What if that's why he put them together in the same suite?

"Stupid," she told herself. She was thinking too much, and she was hungry. There was no reason why she had to make her decision now. She should take Xiaoyu up on her offer to go to dinner together. At the very least, Xiaoyu's obvious social ability would allow Julia to get more information about the other contestants. Xiaoyu probably knew about most of the fighters who had arrived and that knowledge would be valuable both in and out of the tournament battles.

'Now,' she thought, 'what would be the best way to hide the bowl and obsidian knife?' There was no safe in the room, and that would be useless anyway seeing as how Heihachi would have the key to the lock. She couldn't leave the artifacts in her bags - that would one of the first places they would search. Pulling the bowl and knife from her duffle bag she squinted at the table with jars and figurines. She placed the bowl and knife among the decorations and rearranged them slightly. With a little work, they blended perfectly among the other objects.

Julia allowed herself a small smile. Heihachi probably wasn't the one who had bought the furnishing and so would probably be unable to recognize which pieces had already been placed in the room before she had arrived. Hiding in plain sight. It was brilliant. And with that done, Julia could attend to other matters. Slipping her duffel bag beneath the bed and slinging the backpack on her shoulders, Julia knocked gently on Xiaoyu's door.


	11. The Banquet

**Chapter 10**

"Check out this spread!" Xiaoyu's eyes opened up as large as the dinner plate she was piling food on.

Julia had to admit it was impressive. As with the fighters, it seemed that nearly every ethnic group was represented at the dinner table. While she stuck with familiar vegetarian dishes, she noticed that Xiaoyu floated from platter to platter as a honey bee to flowers in a garden. Xiaoyu seemed unafraid to sample anything. Xiaoyu didn't waste any words, and as soon as they sat down she began to attack to plate of food with gusto.

"It tastes so good," Xiaoyu said. "But I really should watch myself. If I eat too much I might end up in a higher weight division."

"I doubt this tournament has weight class divisions," Julia replied. "It's possible we may have to fight anyone in this room." Her eyes fell on what looked like a elephantine robot. Its eyes were a deep glowing red like windows to a furnace. It sat immovable, impassive, and as still as if it had been carved from raw ore. "You know, it's even possible we would have to fight each other."

Xiaoyu paused in her eating for a moment, the rice noodle dangling limply from her mouth. She blinked twice and then shrugged. "Doesn't mean we still can't be friends."

'So much like a child,' Julia thought. 'She must have lived a pampered life. What is she doing here?'

Before Julia could pursue the thought further, a resounding gong echoed throughout the dining hall. All eyes turned toward the finely lacquered cherry wood doors which seemed to opened upon their full attention. Two men strode through the double doors. The older one looked like the devil with his twin tufts rising just behind each ear. His eyebrows were so thick and knitted together that it appeared as a single line. He must have been at least in his late fifties, for his hair had grayed to a dull silver and his face was furrowed from the erosion of time. Yet he was thickly built and there was little doubt that he had been a formidable contestant of past tournaments.

The younger man held the same icy, almost arrogant, glare of the older man. The eyebrows gave them away as relatives, probably grandson and grandfather. His hair, black as a coal-miner's dream, had a widow's peak and swept back from his forehead except for two bangs which framed his eyes. He was equally physically impressive.

"That's Jin and his grandfather, Heihachi," Xiaoyu whispered to Julia. "I go to school with him - Jin, that is, not Heihachi. That would be freaky."

"He doesn't look very happy," Julia replied.

"He never does. I talk at him every day. I say at because he hardly ever responds to anything."

Heihachi's voice boomed in the spacious dining hall. "Welcome. It is an honor to host such an illustrious tournament with contestants of your caliber. You represent the best of your countries, the best of your styles, and the best in the world. The winner of the Iron Fist tournament will truly deserve the title of the greatest fighter in the world.

"However, there are some rules which must be abided by. First, is fighting must take place only in designated areas and against scheduled opponents. I know that many of you have old scores to settle." He paused and glanced at a blond and brunette who eyed each other from across the room. "As an accommodation for this, I give you the right to challenge any opponent to a match and the choice for a public or private match. To refuse such a challenge is an automatic forfeit. Second, fights will last until one or both of the contestants are unable to continue. This may include severe injury or death, but I will not tolerate anybody striking an unconscious opponent. Should a fight end in a knockout, the fight is immediately over.

"Lastly, all contestants must stay until the conclusion of the tournament. I shall not have any one making excuses that they were cheated from the title because they prematurely thought the tournament was over."

At this, a Caucasian with blond hair in the shape of a chimney pulled the chicken drumstick from his mouth, neatly stripping the meat from the bone. Speaking around the chicken, he pointed the drumstick at Heihachi. "Hey, I won the last tournament. You do those secret bonus rounds on your own time. I'm taking the title that's rightfully mine."

"Paul Phoenix," Heihachi said, smiling. "One would think I wouldn't be able to miss you in that red gi, but there are so many new guests tonight. You'll have to prove you're the best fighter here."

"Still the best fighter," Paul corrected. "I already proved it last time. I'm just here to prove it again."

Heihachi smirked but didn't verbally contradict Paul. "I know this tournament shall be interesting. There's an energy in this room I have not felt for years. Save this energy. Harness it. You'll need it in the coming days. The tournament will start tomorrow at daybreak. Jin."

Jin stepped forward. "The first match will be on the beach. The area has already been marked off with stones. It is a public challenge match between Anna Williams and Nina Williams."

The blond woman on one end of the room began slapping her right fist into her left palm. The brunette across from her winked and blew a kiss at her.

"The second match will be in the training hall. Ling Xiaoyu and Gun Jack." The massive robot literally pistoned its arm into the air. Julia saw Xiaoyu's jaw drop for a moment before she bounded to her feet with alacrity, giving a big smile to the crowd and a playful salute toward Jin.

"The last match for tomorrow will be Hwoarang Choi and Cholan Lee in the main hall. You may chose to attend all, some, or none of the matches. After dinner, you are free to roam the area and acclimate yourself to the environment. My grandfather has given me permission to speak in his place should he be unavailable. Please speak to either of us should you have any questions, concerns, or special needs. Enjoy the rest of your dinner."

Julia swallowed the food she hadn't realized she'd been holding in her mouth since she first saw Heihachi. Her jaw ached from clenching her teeth for so long at his affectation.

'Go on,' she thought. 'Play your role of honored host pleasantly surprised at the response to your tournament.'

There was little doubt in her mind that Heihachi had seized something of importance from each of the fighters here to ensure their attendance. However, Heihachi was right was right about one thing. This would be an interesting tournament and the fighters were all world-class, but they could have their glory and money. All she wanted was her mother back. Once she found Michelle, they could start working out a way to bring down the Mishima Financial Corporation so he'd never be able to pursue them again.

She needed more information though. Jin looked and sounded as cold as his grandfather, but there may still be a way to reach him. Perhaps, if she needed to, she could talk to Jin and get the information she needed. She filed the thought away. It'd be best not to show her hand too quickly. She couldn't afford to trust the wrong people. Michelle had to be somewhere in the compound. It would only be a matter of time before Julia found her.


	12. Thief

**Chapter 11**

'That's what I'll have,' thought Xiaoyu, 'a big empty room that is completely dark when they walk in. And then, and then a light will come on in the distance and hit a mirrored ball and start it spinning. Then the reflected light will hit other mirrored balls and they'll start spinning. Until the whole room is a world of spinning color.'

Xiaoyu smiled as she nestled farther into the soft mattress. Above her, light spun in an endless carousel from the small disco ball at the foot of her bed. She had found the device in a cardboard box beneath the desk in her room and had eagerly searched for an outlet to plug it into. The light, filtered through a disc of multi-colored glass, had initially blinded her when the light and motor had switched on. The light fell upon a half-dome covered in miniscule mirrors which spun and reflected the needles of light around the room.

Now, laying on her back in bed, it was so easily to be mesmerized by the sparkles of color. It was almost enough to lure her to sleep. Almost. If only she could get completely comfortable. She rolled her shoulders like waves, but they did not settle into any desirable position. Xiaoyu pushed herself out of bed and massaged her toes into the thick carpet. The clock on the headboard read 1:13 in dull red.

Julia was probably already asleep, but Xiaoyu tip-toed to the door adjoining their rooms, and tapped on it lightly. "Julia, are you still awake?"

Although there was no answer, she thought she heard a small click like a window opening, but that was probably wishful thinking. Nobody would be awake at this time of the night with the tournament officially starting tomorrow. If any of them were still awake, it would be either because of nervous energy or to meditate and refocus themselves. Still though, it wouldn't hurt to check on Julia.

Xiaoyu eased her door open and then gave a tentative push on Julia's door. It moved. Xiaoyu opened the door enough to poke her head through the gap. "Julia?"

Light flashed from within the room and Xiaoyu ducked back inside as something thin and cruel nicked the door, drawing a line deep into its edge. Xiaoyu was back on her feet in one smooth movement knowing nothing except that there was someone in Julia's room with a knife and that meant Julia could be in trouble.

She threw herself forward with her hands extended, pushing the door as she went, and then tucking her body into a ball to roll into the room. Xiaoyu squatted low, her left leg extended and her arms spread out and back like butterfly wings. The Art of Phoenix style's low stance would protect her against any knife attacks a startled attacker would throw instinctively expecting a standing opponent.

Unless Julia had a penchant of wearing stylized cat masks in private and was able to change weight and the length of her limbs in an evening, the other person in the room was not Julia. In fact, there was no sign of her suite mate.

"What did you do with her?"

The cat-woman said nothing. Her arm moved, and Xiaoyu rolled to the side as a high-pitched whistle sailed over head. The darts embedding themselves in the wall behind Xiaoyu. As Xiaoyu got back to her feet she spun one leg out and swept the ninja's legs. The cat-woman fell backwards, and Xiaoyu pressed the advantage. She speared her left hand into the soft tissue right below the shoulder between the chest and armpit, sending her opponent wincing backwards into a table as the knife slipped from her fingers.

Jars rattled and tumbled to the floor as the ninja's arm swept across the table's surface. Only a bowl made of stone instead of clay survived the fall, and a knife was awkwardly wedged between the ninja's elbow and the side of the table. Xiaoyu shuffled back to reassess the situation as her opponent grabbed ahold of the knife handle and slashed at her again. The cat-woman paused as she brought the knife up to the moonlight. She reached behind her and picked up the stone bowl as she extended the blade towards Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu could almost feel the tension in her opponent's legs as they coiled like tight springs.

"Wait for it," Xiaoyu told herself. "Now."

Xiaoyu leapt back as the cat-woman shot forward, and pushed off the wall and over the attack. Landing beside the bed, Xiaoyu quickly turned to receive the anticipated counter-strike only to find that she was suddenly alone in the room. Xiaoyu edged around the corner of the bed to ensure her opponent hadn't hidden somewhere in the shadows.

"What the heck?" Xiaoyu stood and look out the window. A lithe figure scaled the far wall, her red hair snapping behind like a flag in a storm as she ran. A quick hop and the ninja disappeared into the shadows.

Xiaoyu looked about the room. It wasn't too bad considering a fight had broken out in it. Still though, there were three darts sticking into a wall and about four clay containers which had shattered beside the bed. Xiaoyu bit her lip wondering how she was going to explain this one to Julia.


	13. Powerful Enemies

**Chapter 12**

Jin sat in the lotus position surrounded by candles. His nightly meditation was coming to a close. It had been long and uninterrupted, just as he thought it would be. Most of the fighters were older and more experienced than he was. It was doubtful any of them would speak to him. It was doubtful any of them would speak to his grandfather. They knew what they wanted and what they needed to do.

There were a few fighters his own age, but most of them would probably portray themselves as seasoned fighters. In a way they were, or they wouldn't be at the tournament, but this would be a tournament unlike any other they had participated in before. As part of his training, he had looked at all the dossiers to understand his opponents. Of the fighters his age, only Julia was a question mark. Hwoarang would challenge him to a public fight. Xiaoyu would avoid fighting him if possible; her crush on him was obvious and an exploitable weakness. But Julia ... what was her motivation for being in the tournament?

Jin opened his eyes and stretched his arms. His shoulder joints crackled like a fire. Outside the moon had risen - a thin sliver like a cut in the fabric of the sky. His eye caught movement in the shadows below. Someone slipped out of one of the bedroom windows, a feminine shape with long hair pulled into pigtails.

'Julia,' Jin thought. He sighed. 'So much for a quiet evening. Perhaps I'll find out what motivates her sooner than I thought.'

Jin grabbed a shirt and stepped out into the hall.

"Kazama-san." Atsuo Oda jumped to attention.

"It's okay, Oda, you don't have to come along. I'm just going for a walk."

"But there's a lot of fighters about ...."

"True, but if I can't protect myself by now, then I really shouldn't be the final contestant in the tournament."

"Damn straight, kid," Oda said grinning. "You've outgrown my protection. Have fun, Kazama-san." Oda stood aside.

Jin strolled down the hallway until he had rounded the corner and then began running. He needed to find where Julia was heading and intercept her. If one of the security teams or Heihachi caught word that she had slipped out of her room and was roaming the compound after hours things could get ugly really fast. When she left her room, she'd been going east which was away from the banquet hall and towards the temple, but nobody should have seen or known about the temple yet. All the activities thus far in the tournament had been held in the central or western part of the complex. Maybe she had deduced that the east side had something special since nobody had been there yet. He took a short cut through the compound that would get him to the pathway that led to the rock garden and onto the temple quicker instead of moving around the perimeter of the compound which was what Julia would be doing now.

"Kazama-san!" One of the security guards snapped to attention and saluted, the other four hastily following suit.

Jin nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I believe there's a fighter loose. Couldn't tell who. I saw them going to the south. Check it out."

"But - " countered one of the guards.

Jin simply stared to quiet him. "There is a very elite team guarding the temple entrance and they can see clearly anyone who approaches. If whoever snuck out is stupid enough to approach them they'll get what they deserve. In the mean time, if possible I'd like to apprehend them before it gets that far. Sofu wouldn't be happy if the tournament were marred by the death of one of the contestants outside of a sanctioned battle. Should it make you feel better, I will stay here in the event that the fighter attempts to leave in this direction." He pointed to the hallway south and the security team, who knew better than to argue with Jin, scurried down the passage.

Leaning against the red lacquered railing, Jin closed his eyes and waited. By concentrating he projected his awareness outward to sweep along the leaves and corners where light from the paper lanterns didn't reach. For a few minutes there was nothing but the darkness. There. He could feel her presence among the shadows on the right, and although she hardly made a sound he could tell where she was.

"You can come out," Jin said. When she didn't emerge, he pointed in her direction to prove that he knew where she was.

Leaves rustled and Julia stepped from the shadows.

"There was a security team here," Jin began. "I suppose you knew that though. You may have gotten past them, but then what? What are you trying to do?"

"None of your business."

"My grandfather is hosting this tournament and has put me as the second in charge. Everything that happens here is my business."

Julia crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Then you can tell me where Heihachi has my mother."

"Michelle? I don't know. Why would she be here?"

Julia's eyes narrowed. "Don't play games with me. More than a month ago, Michelle came to speak to your grandfather and never returned. You have her somewhere. Give her back."

"I'm telling you, she's not here."

He dodged her initial lunge and blocked the two follow up punches she threw before he dropped to one knee and delivered a straight right towards her gut. She responded quicker than he anticipated and the punch slid off her firm stomach. Before he knew it, she had come up behind him and wrapped her arms around his body in an attempt to throw him to the ground. Only the girth of his shoulders prevented her right hand from grabbing her left wrist to complete the hold.

By flexing his arms, he broke free of her grasp. He was turning to face her when she ducked and shoved her forearm into his oblique muscles before snapping her fist up to his face. It surprised him more than it hurt, but it distracted him long enough that he felt her arm wrap around his neck from the front and one of her legs kick his out from under him. He landed on his side with her on top where she wasted no time in rolling him over to his face.

Instinctively, he curled up so she couldn't lock his legs straight and take away his chance to get leverage. He felt her right arm snake over his shoulder and around his neck in an effort to cut off the blood circulation to his brain. Furious, he clawed at her arm trying to find a way to gain back his advantage at distance combat. Karate hadn't prepared him for ground fighting and he was at a very distinct disadvantage.

Managing to get his feet beneath himself, Jin pushed himself off the ground, carrying Julia on his back. Violently, he shoved back hard against the wall, loosening her hold on his neck, before reaching behind his head and flipping Julia over his shoulder. She landed hard on her back, and Jin barely managed to stop his fist from striking her in the forehead. He backed away as she got to her feet.

"I don't want to fight you," he said. "I assure you, your mother isn't here. We've been preparing for the tournament."

"To hell with your tournament. My tribe is dying, my mother has been taken from me, and the one responsible for both is in the employment of your grandfather. Now, where is she?"

"As I told you, she isn't here."

"Where is she then? She had specifically come to Japan to speak to your grandfather. Did he at least see her?"

"I don't know. I'll ask him, okay. Trust me."

Julia seemed ready to contradict his statement when she suddenly staggered back. Jin moved to catch her fall, but she shoved him back. "Don't touch me. Don't touch me!" She went to her hands and knees, shaking her head as if something had gotten in her eye while she was in a fight and she was trying to avoid punches she couldn't see. Her necklace became luminesce.

Jin became aware of a dull throbbing in his head. Laughter out in the darkness. Ogre. It was coming. Jin swivelled in an attempt to locate it. The throbbing in his head increased, until he was unable to zero in on its position. He stood protectively over Julia in case it tried to ambush her while she was recovering, but nothing came. The pain abated and Julia got to her feet.

"You," she whispered. "You can feel it too?" When he just stared blankly at her question she clarified with one word. "Ogre."

Jin's jaw tightened, and he nodded. "It's what took my mother from me a few years ago. It's why I understand your concern for Michelle. I will talk to my grandfather on your behalf, but for now please return to your room. It's not safe here."

"The tournament will call it," Julia said. "That's what Kunimitsu told my tribe. Heihachi planned all of this. The tournament to attact Ogre and the kidnapping of Michelle to bring me here."

"What does he want from you?"

Julia stepped back. "Ask him yourself. I doubt he will give you the real answer, just like he won't when you ask him about my mother, but the sooner I find out where Michelle is, the sooner she and I can leave. It will be better for all of us then."

"I'll ask him. I promise. I'll send for you when I have information."

"If I find out you're lying ...."

"You may challenge me like any other contestant in the tournament." Jin watched her leave. Apparently he wasn't alone in his fight against Ogre, but for how long would she stand by him in his fight? It was clear she was only here for as long as she was looking for Michelle but perhaps if he could reunite them she would agree to help him further. For now, there were other questions to answer. Jin waited for the security team to return, empty-handed as he expected, before making his way to Heihachi's office.

*** * ***

Heihachi sat at his desk and poured a shot of Crown Royal into a highball glass. "My advice to you is to put it out of your mind."

"I understand, Sufu. It's just that she was very convinced that you had something to do with-"

"That is enough, Jin," Heihachi said. "As I said. I would not concern yourself with the aimless accusations of a contestant. Especially one who has no history within the tournament."

"As you say, Sufu, but if she has no history with the tournament, why is she here?"

Heihachi placed the whiskey back down on the desk untouched. "Powerful men attract powerful enemies. You should know this already. As you gain experience, you will also come to see that there are different kinds of fighters. You and me, we're stand up fighters. We put ourselves out there. You want to challenge me, I'm here. There are others who are not quite so straightforward. There are some who will fight with their fists, some who will fight with words, and others who will poison you or those who would be your allies."

"So you think she's trying to poison me against you with words?"

"All I am saying is that you would do well to learn a lesson from your father. He was once intimate with a woman fighter in the second tournament. The distraction proved too great and he was killed in the final fight."

Jin's eyes widened. "Both my mother and father were at the second tournament?"

"Ironically, the second tournament was where you were conceived. I wish I had had a chance to talk to Kazuya before the final fight, but he was headstrong and I figured he would learn for himself the lessons he needed. As a result, he left himself open and was killed. Soon afterwards, your mother went into hiding from the murderer as well. I was alone again, Jin, after all the sacrifices I made to create the best life I could for my family. So you see why it's important to me to make sure you succeed."

Jin balled his hands into tight fists. "The fighter that killed my father ... is that fighter at this tournament? Which one of them killed him?"

"He is, but do not concern yourself with it. The death of my son is the reason I am head of the Mishima Corporation again - believe me, I have my own scores to settle here as well. You should focus on the task at hand for you. The killer of your mother will be at this tournament soon and you must be ready for it."

"I am prepared."

"That is sufficient then. If it will put your mind at ease, I did speak to Michelle. It was very brief and afterwards I paid her trip back to America. They are a poor people, the Hopitu. Their homeland is desolate and they often become desperate. I wouldn't be surprised if she pawned the plane ticket and decided to stay in Japan."

"Would you have the Zaibatsu check the city? Like me, Julia has never known her father and has lost her mother. I need to do what I can to ensure they are reunited if possible ...."

"I understand, Jin." Heihachi took a sip of whiskey and gestured for Jin to leave.

Powerful men attract powerful enemies. Jin mulled over the thought and found himself shuddering after the door had closed behind him as he thought of what it would be like to have Heihachi as an enemy.

Instead of going back to his room, Jin retraced his steps back to where he had fought Julia. Aside from a few scuff marks on the laminate flooring, there was no sign anything had happened. The servants of the compound were nothing if not efficient. If blood had been spilled it would have been mopped and the floor waxed. If furniture had been broken, the room would have been refurnished. Satisfied that no suspicions would be aroused in any of the other fighters who might walk down this hallway, Jin continued on to Julia's original destination.

The temple was set away from the compound, beyond the small forest that grew in the western portion of the island. It was large enough that its top could be glimpsed at through breaks in the forest, but the paths leading to it were hidden well enough that you couldn't stumble upon the entrance haphazardly. Jin pushed aside the gingko leaves and nodded to the guards that had been posted outside. They nodded back as though seeing him for the first time, but there was no doubt that they had seen him coming through the forest for a while.

Built three stories high, the temple sat upon a bedrock overlooking a lake with only a single bridge leading from the cleared forest area that held the torii to the temple's entrance. The torii was a simple one created with two vertical posts holding two horizontal posts. There were no additional decorations although the top horizontal post held a graceful bend which reached its lowest point right at the center of the torii where a wooden board connected the upper and lower posts together. Mossy green tiles covered the top post, but otherwise the whole torii was painted a solid crimson.

Jin passed beneath the torii and onto the bridge where two of the guards stepped in front of the temple entrance.

It wasn't unusual for Jin to come to the temple at night and meditate in the hall, so that they would accost him now was unexpected.

"Good evening, Master Kazama-san," one of the guards said.

"Good evening, Haruto. Has it been quiet tonight?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good to hear." Jin attempted to walk between the two guards when they moved again to block his path.

"Sorry, sir, the temple is off-limits to everyone except Heihachi."

"Are you sure he didn't make an exception for me?" Jin asked.

"The temple is off-limits to everyone except Heihachi. He was very specific about that."

"I see. When did that order come through?"

"It's not important, Master Kazama-san. Only that it is the current standing order."

Jin contemplated slamming their heads together and going inside anyway, but there was the question of "then what?" He'd been in the temple before and had never seen anything out of place. He wouldn't be able to do a thorough search of the whole temple, especially not with the other guards patrolling the upper floors. He couldn't go all in - not based on Julia's fears, not without knowing more about it himself. Now was not the time to test Heihachi's ruling.

"Shall we have someone escort you back to your room, Master Kazama-san?"

"Not necessary, Haruto. I'll manage."

"Very well, sir. Have a good night."

"You too." Jin stepped away and began the trek back to his room. Before disappearing into the shadows of the forest, he turned back once. The guards hadn't moved yet. The temple stood as still as a grave and just as silent about the secrets buried beneath it.


	14. The Tournament Begins

**Chapter 13**

Like the philosophical debate over the assets of blonds to brunettes, the fight between the Williams sisters was long with no clear side dominating, and had distinctly polarized the men into three groups: one who preferred blonds, one who preferred brunettes, and one that wouldn't mind having a bit of each - probably at the same time. It had begun fiercely and had only gotten worse as it went on. The start of the fight had been filled with very impressive moves designed to devastate their opponent and show their superiority. Now though, with both of them exhausted and battered it had nearly degenerated into the dying spasms of mortally wounded animals chained together.

Julia was amazed at the brutality of a sibling rivalry. Nina, the blond, had a cut over her right eye that constantly dripped blood causing her to blink so often it looked like a nervous twitch, while the whole left side of Anna's face was nearly completely swollen. Yet they continued to meet in the center of the makeshift ring on the beach to exchange blows.

The last flurry had drop Nina to her knees where Anna took the opportunity to backhand her sister. Anna tried to wrap her arms around Nina's neck, to choke her out or possibly snap her neck, but Nina slipped beneath the hold and elbowed her sister in the gut. Anna, gripping her stomach, was pushed face first into the sand where she began choking.

Julia thought she saw a small smile on Nina's face as the blond slammed an elbow down on the back of her sister's head, but it could just have been a grimace from the effort it took to raise her arm. Anna stopped moving, but Nina raised her arm back up and tightened her fist.

Jin was immediately in the ring, pulling Nina away as a trauma team checked on Anna. He lifted Nina's arm in victory to the hoots and hollers of the guys who had taken her side in the fight. She looked out to the crowd once, and then her head bobbed and she slumped to the ground. A snap of Jin's fingers brought two of the medics to Nina.

Julia shuddered as the Williams sisters were carried out on gurneys past her. Only the very shallow rise of the blankets laid over the bodies betrayed the appearance of death. What had she gotten herself into?

"Nina Williams is the winner," Heihachi announced. "She will be given one day to recover - she may postpone any challenge presented to her without forfeiting the tournament during her recovery time."

Jin stepped forward when Heihachi left. "The next fight will be Ling Xiaoyu and Gun Jack. Please proceed to the training hall if you wish to watch."

*** * ***

As the crowd moved down the corridor to the training hall, Julia noticed that Xiaoyu had grown uncommonly quiet. "Hey," she whispered in Xiaoyu's ear. "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? I'm just fighting the terminator's bigger, meaner, older brother who probably weighs as much as a car."

The walk to the training hall was shorter than Julia expected and before she could say much more to Xiaoyu, the training hall was coming up on the right. Gun Jack was already waiting in the room, apparently either secure in its superiority or not programmed to take the styles of its opponents into account of its strategy.

Even for a robot, it was ugly looking. A strange dome, resembling a thick, backward shark fin adorned the top of its head. The cheek bones jutted out at nearly unnatural angles and the lips were thick and set in a perpetual scowl. Its glowing red eyes seemed to lock onto Xiaoyu to the exclusion of everything else. Wherever Xiaoyu moved, its eyes followed.

Julia laid a hand on Xiaoyu's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "It looks like it'll be slow, but don't underestimate it. And don't let it hit you."

"That's always my goal, but whatever happened to your pushing everyone away in case you had to fight them."

"I'd rather fight you than that."

"Well, that's comforting. You just save a seat for me at the banquet," Xiaoyu replied, and added in a mock Schwarzenegger voice, "I'll be back."

Xiaoyu stepped onto the raised platform that served as the ring. If she seemed small compared to the other fighters, she was a midget compared to the machine. Xiaoyu circled her hands in front of herself and got into her fighting position. She didn't seem fazed when the robot reared up to its full height and pistoned its forearms with the sound of a unmuffled car engine.

"Fight."

At Heihachi's command, the robot swung its massive right fist at Xiaoyu who easily ducked beneath it. The robot came back around with the left which Xiaoyu sidestepped. A cartwheel brought Xiaoyu safely away from the double-handed strike from Gun Jack. Xiaoyu retaliated with a kick to the side of the robot's left knee and three palm strikes to its hip. It seemed to do little but irritate the machine who tried to backhand Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu crouched in the Art of Phoenix stance. She shuffled close to Gun Jack and speared her fingers at the knee joint before rising up and striking the robot's chin with the inside edge of her left hand as Gun Jack bent down to grab her. As she turned her body, Xiaoyu kicked back with right foot and caught Gun Jack where its gut would have been and toppled the giant. It was back on its feet almost immediately, but there was a collective gasp from the crowd at the skill and power contained in the small container that was Xiaoyu's body.

Again, Xiaoyu squatted down in what she had demonstrated to Julia as the Art of Phoenix style as if daring the robot to approach. Gun Jack paused as if to analyze the next few moves. It must have decided because it barrelled down on her like a car set to run her over and then sidestepped at the last minute to attack her from behind. Xiaoyu shifted out of the Phoenix stance and into a front roll as the robot's foot smashed the tiles she had just been on. Xiaoyu kicked up and back, catching Gun Jack right beneath its chin and sending it off balance to the floor.

Julia let out her breath. Maybe Xiaoyu would be able to defeat the machine. With her speed and flexibility, Xiaoyu seemed able to dodge all of its strikes and score damaging hits from nearly any angle. Now Julia understood why Xiaoyu was in the tournament. She had never seen anybody, especially someone younger than her, move with such fluidity and fierce precision.

Xiaoyu swayed back from another of Gun Jack's wild swings and came back around with the ridge of her hand that struck the machine on the side of the neck in a move that resembled the swelling of an ocean wave and its crash upon the shore. The robot went down again. Xiaoyu's blows were like water, rusting the joints of the machine, slowing it. Compared to Xiaoyu's fluid movement, Gun Jack was like an ungainly toy winding down, but it was still dangerous.

Julia glanced at Jin who was watching impassively from the side. Could he really be any better from Heihachi? He didn't seem the least bit concerned for Xiaoyu who clearly had a crush on him. It was even possible he was using that knowledge against Xiaoyu - perhaps he saw her interest in him as a weakness to exploit. It would fit Heihachi's personality, and despite the fact that Jin was probably close to her age, Jin and Heihachi didn't seem much different to her at this point.

The sound of more tiles cracking brought Julia's attention back to the ring. Gun Jack was still swinging wildly and its awkward steps reminded Julia of a baby first learning to walk. It was clearly on the verge of collapse as its joints and stability had been steadily cut down from Xiaoyu's blows, but while a man would have long been felled, the machine was still able to attack. The robot's swings were getting closer and closer to Xiaoyu as she began to tire. More than once, Julia thought Xiaoyu had been hit and only the fact that Xiaoyu's body hadn't gone skidding across the ring told her otherwise.

"Come on, Xiaoyu!" Julia shouted. "Dig deeper."

Xiaoyu managed to duck beneath another roundhouse punch and drove her palms, one after another, into the robot's hip. The robot turned, throwing out one of its massive fists. The blow clipped Xiaoyu in the shoulder with enough force to knock her onto her back. Gun Jack pointed both hands towards the prone body of Xiaoyu like they were handguns to execute a prisoner.

"Get out, Xiaoyu!"

Julia fought the urge to jump in the ring and either tackle the robot or scoop Xiaoyu out of the way.

Xiaoyu shoved herself off the floor, rolling backwards, as the hands seemed to explode out from the forearms and embed themselves into the ground. As Gun Jack struggled to pull the fingers free, Xiaoyu leapt towards the robot's head and slammed her left foot into it and then shot out her right foot. The second strike had enough force behind it to not only allow Xiaoyu to backflip away from her opponent but to send the robot completely backwards, ripping out the arm from their sockets.

The robot sparked furiously from the destroyed limbs - its whole body convulsed as the motors shorted out and seized. It took one shuddering step towards Xiaoyu and then collapsed onto its face. The red glowing eyes winked out.

Jin stepped into the ring and helped Xiaoyu from her knees. "Winner," he announced, raising her hand. The spectators gave a few murmurs of amazement, but quickly dispersed from the area. Only Julia stepped into the ring to help support Xiaoyu. Jin handed Xiaoyu off to Julia. Julia noticed Xiaoyu give a half-hearted reach back to Jin, but he had already turned away to follow Heihachi out.

Typical guy, Julia thought. Either clueless or uncaring of a woman's feeling. There'd be time enough later to discuss Xiaoyu's relationship with the heir to the Mishima empire. "Hey, you did really well out there."

Xiaoyu gasped for breath. "Thanks. Thought I would die out there."

"You were cutting it pretty close at the end."

"Didn't know that was going to be the end. So, still wanna fight me?"

"Only if I can do it now when you're tired." Julia returned Xiaoyu's smile. "Come on, there's still time for you to get cleaned up before we go to lunch. A celebration for a clean victory."

"Almost clean victory. My knee's a little sore from that last kick. How about you help me back to my room and then we can go hit that banquet. I'm starving."


	15. Julia vs Bruce

**Chapter 14**

Julia knelt and touched the ground at her feet. "Protect me, mother, and give me strength." Standing, Julia patted her cheeks to focus herself. She took a deep breath and looked across the ring. A tall black fighter faced her. His hands were wrapped all the way from his wrists to his knuckles to support his punches. His hair had been shaved on the sides, leaving nothing but a thin mohawk and some trailing dreadlocks on the back. Both pec muscles held tattoos that resembled a dying tree branch with two dots between two of its branches. Julia couldn't place the symbolism, but his style was clearly Thai kickboxing from the way he framed his head with his arms held high and bounced rhythmically on the balls of his feet. He, too, wore a necklace but unlike Julia's ornamental turquoise and silver, it was a miniature bull skull attached to a thick metal chain.

Bruce Irvin, if she remembered his name correctly from the announcement of the match. She focused what she knew about Thai kickboxing into a strategy against it. Obviously he would be a strong kicker, that was easily evident from his long legs which had a callous ridge running down both shins, and she knew that Thai kickboxers often used short knee and elbow strikes in close quarters so despite the elbow strikes she knew from Xing Yi, she knew she would not be able to overwhelm him in close like she might if facing the other fighters.

If he was good, she would have a tough time at distance or in fighting. She would either have to grapple him so his knee and elbow strikes couldn't get any power behind them or stay just beyond his considerable reach and try to get him to overextend himself and counter.

"Go, Julia!" Xiaoyu shouted from the sidelines, apparently just as determined to support her friend as Julia had supported her. There were only a few fighters watching this match, most noticeable Lei Wulong, the so called Hong Kong "Supercop," who stood beside Xiaoyu with his arms crossed. From what she'd heard from Xiaoyu, Julia was surprised that Lei hadn't challenged Bruce himself - at the same time he seemed ready to jump into the ring at a moment's notice. She noticed that his eyes continually scanned the crowd as if on a stakeout.

Jin stood impassively behind Heihachi, giving no hint that he knew of Julia's activities the night before. He didn't even nod his head to acknowledge Julia's bow of respect to the hosts of the tournament.

'If you're lying,' she thought, but banished the thought. There would be time later to determine if he would become an ally. In the mean time, she couldn't afford to be distracted.

Heihachi stood and spread his hands out. "The sixth match of the tournament will begin. Julia Chang and Bruce Irvin. Fight."

Julia began moving as soon as she saw Bruce propelled himself off his back foot at her. His long legs seemed to stretch to inhuman proportions as he extended his left leg into a front kick. While a quick side step brought her safely away from the kick, Bruce twisted his body and caught Julia on her temple with his elbow. Julia turned with the blow to dissipate some of its energy. She took two steps back to give herself some time to clear her head and react to any follow up hits, but he was quicker.

He locked his hands behind her head and pulled her into the knee strikes aimed at the side of her ribs. By twisting, she was able to bring her arms between Bruce's knees and her side to cushion the blows but even with that extra protection she could feel her teeth rattle with each strike. He continue to yank her head from side to side to keep her off balance. Julia absorbed the blows, as she waited for a chance to break out of his grip. It came when she had correctly anticipated one of his yanks and was able to move her legs into a solid stance and jam his knee strike. She pushed forward and slammed her heavy boot down on his unprotected toes.

There was a satisfying crunch and Bruce shoved her back. Julia stood back to see how well Bruce moved without the use of his left foot. He limped heavily, the rhythm of his steps gone. Ducking a roundhouse kick that had been aimed at her head, Julia drove her right fist into Bruce's solar plexus, sending the air in his lungs whooshing out. She grabbed his necklace and pulled him into her uppercut that briefly lifted him off his feet. Wasting no time, Julia quickly jumped forward and hit Bruce full in the chest with her right fist. She struck the side of his head with a high kick, spun and caught him with a low kick to the front of his kneecap, and threw both hands forward into his gut.

Bruce was launched backwards, nearly head over heels, and skidded to a stop a few yards away.

'Stay down,' Julia thought. This wasn't her idea of fun. This was not what she lived or trained for, but there was a game to play. She couldn't allow Heihachi to find any weakness in her. As long as Bruce stood up she would have to put him back down, no matter how distasteful it was to continue fight a beaten man.

She cursed as Bruce pushed himself up. He was unable to stand up straight from the pain in his body and his arms were no longer directly beside his head like they were at the beginning of the fight but drooped down and towards each other like plants withering in the heat. Cautiously, Julia approached just in case it was an act.

Bruce threw a slow moving jab which Julia easily dodged. Another forearm in the gut doubled Bruce over before Julia kicked his legs out from under him. He landed hard on his back, his head bouncing against the ground. He arched his back in pain and collapsed back down and was still.

"Julia wins," Heihachi announced.

Only Xiaoyu and Lei clapped. The other fighters merely filed out of the room. It was just as well. Julia couldn't feel any sense of victory in this battle. Not so long as it gave Heihachi pleasure and didn't get her any closer to discovering Michelle's whereabouts.

She looked up at Heihachi who gave a sly smile as though this thrashing had somehow fulfilled a part of his plan. Julia had expected Jin to be standing beside Heihachi like a dutiful pet, staring down with dispassionate calm but he must have left some time during the fight.

"You did it," Xiaoyu announced as she gave Julia a hardy slap on the back.

Lei Wulong stepped forward. Despite the fact that he had no authority on the island compound, he still wore a pair of handcuffs on his belt. "Very impressive display, young lady."

"You make it sound like an exhibition," Julia said. She watched the medical team put Bruce onto a gurney and carry him off towards the infirmary. She shuddered. "Perhaps this is all a job to you, but it's not that simple for the rest of us."

"It's very simple for many of the other contestants. Believe it, Julia. But if it's any consolation, Bruce was a viscous fighter and a wanted criminal."

"He's still a man," replied Julia. "He still came from the Creator."

"You seem to be a nice girl. Why are you at this tournament?"

"I have my reasons, just like everyone else here. I just wish mine were as simple as you think the other fighters' reasons are."

"Hey, hey," Xiaoyu admonished Lei. "No spoiling the mood here with high pressure interrogation. Come on, Jules, you were the last match for the day. Go take a shower and lets see if we can find something fun to do in this place."

'Great Taiowa,' thought Julia. Was this all an act or does Xiaoyu really have no firm grasp of the reality of the situation. Still though, a shower did sound good. She caught sight of her palm, flecked red. Quickly, she closed her fist and turned them over so she wouldn't see the blood. Yes, a shower was just what she needed.


	16. Pan Pan

**Chapter 15**

"Stay here. I want to surprise you." Xiaoyu gestured for Julia to stop. They were outside the main compound where part of the indigenous forest had not been cleared.

It's beautiful, Julia thought. She stepped to the side and ran a hand down one of the trees. Its bark was ridged and craggy, and yet it was somehow soothing to feel something not cut and planed by machines, to feel something pristine and untouched by human intervention. Off to the side, a brook babbled and filled in a small pool of water. All the rocks were verdant from the moss and lichen. Never had she been in an area so green and full of life - the forest was all browns and greens ranging from dark olive to sour apple with only the sunlight as a focus point. It was a painting of a dream. It was what Arizona could become if she could rejuvenate the forest that had once been.

"Pan pan," Xiaoyu called. She picked up a stalk of bamboo from the ground and swished it a few times before tapping it lightly on the ground. A large black paw adorned with a pink bracelet emerged from the cave, followed by a round black and white face that resembled a raccoon who had eaten too much and grown nearly six times the average weight of its kind. The panda bear approached like an obedient pet and swiped at the bamboo, but Xiaoyu jerked the stalk away and backed up. "Come on, Panda."

Panda stepped fully outside the cave and Xiaoyu played a brief game of tug-of-war with Panda. The bear almost seemed to be smiling as it bit into one end of the stalk and began to pull Xiaoyu towards the cave. Xiaoyu laughed and let go.

"Come, Panda. I want you to meet my good friend, Julia."

'Good friend,' Julia thought. Xiaoyu was quick to trust others if in less than a week Julia had already been categorized as a good friend. In another week, she'd probably be upgraded to "best friend" status. Still though, it was nice to not have to watch her back around all the contestants. Xiaoyu seemed incapable of a single bad thought and was never without a smile for Julia. Of all the contestants, Xiaoyu was probably the only one she could safely trust. She wasn't completely sure about Jin, but maybe Xiaoyu would know more about him.

Julia approached the panda bear who chewed contently on the bamboo and ran a hand gently through its long, coarse hair. The fur was thick and oily, probably waterproof. Panda turned to face Julia and bleated like a lamb before going back to its bamboo.

"I knew Panda would like you. She's an excellent judge of character." Xiaoyu threw her hands around Panda's thick neck.

"Is she? How about you? Who do you trust here?"

Xiaoyu put a finger to her lips and looked up. "Hmm, well besides you and Panda ... I would have to say Lei Wulong. He's a Hong Kong supercop, you know. He has to be good. Paul and Forest seem all right too. They're funny together."

"How about Heihachi?"

"Well, of course, Heihachi. If I didn't trust him why would I participate in the tournament? He was the one who gave me Panda for a bodyguard, you know."

"Why would you need a bodyguard?"

Xiaoyu shrugged. "Maybe because I spend time with Jin at school, he wanted to make sure nobody got to Jin through me. Why?"

"Forget it," Julia replied. "It's nothing." The fur prickled her hand.

"You don't have to tell me everything, Julia, but it'd be nice to be told something. I'd like to help you if I can."

Julia pulled on the chain that held the pendant. There were limits to what she could accomplish on her own. As more of the contestants were eliminated from the competition, there would be an increasing number of people who could rifle through her belongings when she was away from them. At the very least, she would need at least two allies in case she had to fight one of them in the tournament. Heihachi seemed to have no qualms about breaking up friends to satisfy his megalomania during the tournament. Julia pulled the pendant from beneath her shirt.

"Oh, wow. That's beautiful. Where'd you get it?" Xiaoyu cupped the pendant and stroked the turquoise.

"It's a family heirloom giving to me by my mother. It's said that it has the power to control spirits. Heihachi wants it. And I've brought it to him."

"Why? If you don't trust him, why would you come here?"

"I think he has my mother. That's why I need to know if I can believe Jin. He says my mother isn't here."

Xiaoyu frowned in thought. "I'm sure if Jin said it's true, it's true. What do you think, Panda?"

Panda stopped chewing on bamboo as if to contemplate the question. She rolled herself to her feet and looked towards the complex as a messenger approached. He moved like a gazelle in quick, bold bounds down the rocky path, his hat bouncing comically and yet somehow never completely flying off his head.

"Ms. Ling, Master Mishima wishes to speak to you. He's waiting for you in the office."

Xiaoyu looked ready to rebuff the request, but apparently changed her mind. "Right, come on, Panda. I'll talk to you later, Jules."

Julia watched as Xiaoyu and Panda walked back towards the buildings, Xiaoyu's hand massaging the fur on the Panda's nape. A flash of light caught Julia's attention. It came from the highest window in the compound which was closing. Squinting, she could see the two tufts of hair that identified Heihachi. Was this another plot to disrupt her efforts? Had he been watching Xiaoyu talking to her and, in Xiaoyu's words, thought that Julia was trying to get to Jin through Xiaoyu? Or was Xiaoyu a spy for Heihachi? She seemed to look up to him as though he was her grandfather. Julia pinched the bridge of her nose; fighting was easy compared to politics.

"Ms. Chang," the messenger said after Xiaoyu was out of earshot. "Master Kazama has requested your presense. He is waiting in the rock garden. Through the side gate there, just follow the path through the forest to the left."

"Thank you."

The messenger bowed and continued back to the complex.

'Subtle,' thought Julia. Jin had waited until Xiaoyu had been summoned by Heihachi before meeting with her so they could speak alone. 'Hang on, mother. I'll get to the bottom of this soon.' Julia stepped into the shadows of the forest.


	17. Mokujin

**Chapter 16**

The training room was better than he expected. Hwoarang had expected a standard "rich, snob" setting with pristine walls that had never had a face scraped off it, fresh foam pads like virgin rice paper which had never had held blood, and the smell of scented wood not yet coated with musky smell of dried sweat. Yet this place looked like it was used and used hard. The silver color on the weights had been rolled off along the center to expose the iron - turning it to a deep brown rust. The mats, although clean to the finger, were stained yellow from the pain that had been squeezed from past trainees.

Leaning against the wall was a wooden dummy. A staple of martial arts training. Its arms, thick and made of hard wood, looked like they could and have withstood a massive amount of damage. Chains draped from its wrists, a strange addition to a Mokujin as the Japanese called them, but when Hwoarang saw the metal rings in the ceiling, it made more sense. The chains were probably looped through the rings and a person behind the dummy could maneuver it like some ungainly marionette.

Hwoarang opened a side door and leaned in the doorway to the outside garden. It was peace in floral and water form. Short bridges arched gently over the ponds of koi and lily pads. The wind, cool and dry, swept over the plants and water and rustled his hair. If he closed his eyes it was almost fast enough at times to feel as if he was riding his motorcycle down the streets of Seoul. With the wind there was always a sense of speed and freedom. Let the other fighters win their little tournaments wearing pads and stiff protective gear - trapped indoors, stifled by their armor, and suffocating from a crowd pressing forward. His tournaments were ones that counted in the back alleys and city streets. It wasn't that he was claustrophobic, but why restrict yourself in life or fighting? If you're going to fight, fight. If you're going to live, live. It was as simple as that. Rules and regulations were for sports, not fighting.

Pushing himself off the door frame, Hwoarang threw a jab at the heavy bag. Lee had been a good opponent for a first match with kicks that matched his own. His only mistake had been to step into the ring with Hwoarang thinking he was better. It was a mistake he wouldn't make again. Still though, he'd have to strengthen his boxing skills a little. Against Lee, he had gotten by strictly on his kicks, but Jin would be different.

Jin must have studied many martial arts, perhaps not enough to practice them but enough to know their strengths and weaknesses. The first time they had fought, Jin had seen through Hwoarang's fake punch knowing that Hwoarang was trying to set him up for a kick. He couldn't give that kind of advantage away or the fakes would be useless.

Hwoarang jabbed twice before stepping forward and spinning off his right foot. He waited until his body had spun 360 degrees and extended his right leg and caught the heavy bag with his instep. The bag swayed in response to his tornado kick. He took a step back and kicked out three times in rapid succession.

'Take that, Kazama,' he thought. 'Everyone else may be afraid to challenge, you, but I'm not. I've already fought you once, and you're not that good. I got sloppy last time is all. That's the only reason we fought to a draw. I'm going to pay you back for that and your cowardly attack on my master.'

At the thought Hwoarang pounded his fist into the bag. They couldn't take on Baek face to face. Especially not with Hwoarang and his gang there. That's why they had waited until Baek was alone and ganged on him. There was no other explanation for the state of the dojang when Hwoarang returned later that night - the overturned training equipment, the knuckle imprints in the wall, the blood.

Baek was a revered tae kwon do master. Nobody in the community would challenge him, but the Japanese - it would be just like those dogs to bring him down as a pack. They were fit only to be collared and chained to a fence. Hwoarang slammed his foot into the bag. Sand seeped from the back of the bag.

Hwoarang traced the trail back to a small patch of duct tape he hadn't noticed before. Someone had busted it open. That wasn't easy, but then if he were a rich boy with nothing to do all day but train he'd be able to do that too. Hell, he could do that now and he wasn't rich. It didn't prove anything. He shivered.

"Wind's picking up," he told himself. Yet there was a prickle at the base of his skull. Something was wrong here.

A sound like a door creaking came from somewhere behind him - a low, pained groan. There was the sound of crackling wood and rattling chains like a dark and hollow laugh. Hwoarang glanced over his shoulder. Something heavy, hard, and round cracked into his cheek like a cannonball. He half-rolled, half bounced off the heavy bag as he stumbled to regain his footing.

The wooden dummy stepped closer, dragging the chains. The features were crude - two round eyes the color of Amaghasa azalea glowing from somewhere within the wood like a candle within a jack-o-lantern, and a nose that jutted out in sections like the end of a telescope. Its whole body was the shape of butcher blocks connected with balls. A single sprig extended from the top of the dummy's head. The eyes flashed as though it was laughing at Hwoarang's awkward attempts to get into a defensive position.

"The hell is this!" Hwoarang fired off a hasty side kick as a way to push his opponent away to give himself more time to prepare an offensive. Training dummies were not meant to move on their own. Was this some sort of sick joke?

The dummy swung another punch, whipping the chains. Clearly, it wasn't being controlled through the chains, but who was to say this wasn't a crazy robot like that monstrosity that little Chinese girl wasted? These Japanese were in love with robots, but was this even technologically possible yet?

It stood like Jin Kazama - the same wide, cocky stance like he owned the world. It snapped out two punches from its hips - karate style.

"Oh, is that how it is?" Hwoarang shook his feet as if kicking weight off of them. If this thing fought like Kazama it would be the perfect opportunity to train against his style.

Hwoarang opened with a knife hand strike to the throat; it was blocked. He brought the same hand back around and attempted a backfist strike. Although the dummy's ball hands couldn't grasp Hwoarang's wrist, it was still able to block the second strike and retaliate with a punch to his ribs. Hwoarang batted the punch down and brought his foot up, catching Mokujin in the chin - snapping the head back.

A real person would have experience whiplash from that force, but the wooden dummy seemed unfazed and continued attacking. Hwoarang blocked what he could and struck back when there was an opening, but he began to realize that this would ultimately be a losing strategy against something that never tired and was incapable of feeling pain.

With the right amount of force, though, he may be able to snap the head. Hwoarang spun in a tight circle and lashed out with his left foot. The spur in his cowboy boots embedded itself into the dummy's head.

"Oh, shi-" Hwoarang didn't have a chance to finish his sentence for the dummy was now pulling its head back, bringing Hwoarang's foot with it. Hopping like a flamingo was the only way Hwoarang was able keep from falling and being dragged around the room from his foot. The dummy twisted and pulled back like a horse trying to pull a carriage that was too heavy for it until it seemed to realize that Hwoarang was just as stuck. With metal balls as hands, Mokujin was unable to grapple with Hwoarang and opted to lift its heavy limb high.

Hwoarang jumped and kicked out with his left foot. He couldn't let the hand descend on the side of his knee like Jin had done to him in their first fight. He felt his foot connect to Mokujin's thick chest and used its solidness to wrench the spur free. The ground met Hwoarang's shoulder as the dummy's hand whistled in the space between them. Rolling to his feet, Hwoarang assessed a new strategy: break it. Aim at the joints and take them out. He'd splinter this monstrosity apart like a book of matches.

Mokujin changed styles and began sweeping its legs back and forth behind it as it dipped low in an almost hypnotic dance. It leaned back on its hands and threw a kick aimed at Hwoarang's ankle before arching back and circling the leg up and around to stand on its hands. It spun lazily and dropped back onto its feet and into its swaying movements.

"What the hell is this?" Hwoarang stepped back as Mokujin cartwheeled towards him. Hwoarang sidestep the initial barrage of kicks and retaliated with a low kick of his own. The blow caught Mokujin in the head throwing off its rhythm. Pressing his advantage, Hwoarang brought an axe kick down on Mokujin's shoulder which split the wooden ball that held the limb to the body. Although it didn't seem to feel pain, Hwoarang noticed that Mokujin was structurally unable to use one of its arms, prompting it to switch to another style that didn't depend on handstands and swinging the arms to counterbalance its exotic kicks.

Hwoarang swayed back as his opponent's right fist flew past his face. As expected, the wooden dummy swung the fist back around - just like that giant Gun Jack robot. Hwoarang smiled. If that little stick of a girl could break the robot's style, he sure as hell could too. Mokujin raised its leg as if to kick, but rotated its good arm behind its body like an exaggerated baseball pitch.

'Here it comes,' thought Hwoarang. He retreated a step as the fist approached like a battering ram. Snatching the wrist, Hwoarang kicked the side of Mokujin's leg - shattering it. He chambered his leg and struck the side of the pelvis before bringing the leg one last time to jam his foot in Mokujin's armpit and pulling hand. The right arm was wrenched out of its socket. To finish, Hwoarang delivered a spinning back kick to the wooden head. The dummy went down and did not move again.

Hwoarang whistled. That was a terrific workout if out of the ordinary. 'Next time, though,' he thought, rubbing his sore jaw, 'I can't let my guard down.' It had gotten a free hit on him and against someone like Kazama that could be costly.

"Thanks, dummy," he told the broken wood. "Training with you taught me." That wasn't the only dummy in this tournament. Hwoarang thought of Kazama and laughed. He'd have to find Heihachi. Tomorrow, was the day that he'd set the record straight. Kazama would fall.


	18. A View from the Top

**Chapter 17**

In the sunlight, the sand almost sparkled like water - white as snow on the highlights and a soft blue-gray in the shadows. Steady, even lines had been raked across the length of the sand garden and only where the continuity of the sand was interrupted by a delicately placed rock were the lines broken. Around each of the five rocks, concentric rings radiated out, following their contours like surf breaking around the edges of islands. It was a miniature section of the world. The rock islands, like Japan, off on their own in the sea, and the moss dotting the rocks like forest. Marking the perimeter of the sand garden were carved tiles separating the sand from the beetle-shaped rocks commonly found in rivers.

Jin knelt in the shade of the viewing area. It was a small comfort to be here away from the noise and traffic. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine being back in Yakushima. Unlike a city, a forest was alive without the mindless wander of humans and the constant reconstruction of the buildings. He could almost feel his mother's caress in the wind, carrying away all the anger Heihachi had injected into him.

'If she could see what I've become she'd be ashamed,' Jin thought. Giving into anger, recalling painful memories, these were both things that Jun had always warned against. They fed the devil inside, but without it how could he have the strength to live on with his cowardice? How could he ever make it right by avenging her death? Jin made a fist.

"Will you cause damage this time?" he asked it. "Are you strong enough to avenge Mother?"

"Is this a bad time?"

Jin turned in the direction of the voice. Julia stood in the shade of the ginkgo trees, still wearing her faded jean skirt and leather vest. She was either pragmatic or lacked alternative outfits. Jin guessed it was a little of both. "No, I'm fine."

"Do you miss her?" Julia asked.

"Terribly." Jin turned back to the white sea before him.

"I got your message. Did you find something about Michelle?"

Jin nodded. "He said that he spoke to her briefly, but not what about. He also said that he paid for her plane ticket back to America."

"That's a lie."

"You weren't here. How do you know?"

"Because Michelle never came home. I know my mother, she wouldn't have deserted us ... she wouldn't have deserted me. She wouldn't have ...."

"Are you sure?"

Julia turned her eyes towards Jin. "What about your mother? Wouldn't she do everything she could to protect you? Why would you expect anything less from someone else's mother? Have you ever wondered why Heihachi took you in? From what I've heard, Heihachi isn't much of a family man."

Jin felt the temperature in his cheeks rise. 'Calm,' he told himself, that's what Jun would tell him if she was alive. He felt the anger abate. "You shouldn't talk about what you don't know. Leave my family out of this."

"I would if your family would leave mine alone. First it was Kazuya dragging my mother into his tournament. Now it's Heihachi dragging me into his."

"I've asked Heihachi to allow the Tekken Zaibatsu security force to search around mainland Japan to see if they can see if anything happened to her. There is nothing more I can do for you right now."

"I see." Julia fell silent for a moment. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you from your usual duties."

"Julia, wait." Her pig tails waggled as she stopped. How could he tell her? How could he let her see that they were abandoned children who had never known a father and had lost their mothers? How could he show her the beauty that he had known before Heihachi's necessary conditioning?

"Julia, do you believe in a purpose to everything?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you want answers, you have to give some too."

"I want to believe it," Julia said finally.

"Maybe we were meant to meet each other in the tournament like our mothers did. I think you would have gotten along with her. She always loved nature. You know, sometimes when I meditate here, I can still feel her presense."

Jin stepped back to invite her to sit for a while and only then did Julia approach. She seemed so much like a deer approaching a water hole. Her eyes never left his as she came towards where he had sat. Rather than sitting in the lotus position which would lock her legs, she knelt in a way she could bound away instantly. She closed her eyes.

He thought back to all the times that his mother was able to call him without words. She had a gift, and she had tried to cultivate it in Jin. A precaution, she called it, against the coming darkness. As he concentration, the greens in the garden shifted. They brightened and the edges seemed to glow. And she was there again. Jun Kazama with her hair swept back in a white band and a matching summer dress. Behind her, the forest came to life as birds hopped down from trees singing and squirrels scampered towards her like subjects to a queen.

He heard Julia gasp. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "She's beautiful."

And there! The rocks at her feet opened and water cascaded like a carpet before her. A vein pulsed behind his eye. Jin tried to blink it away, but it only beat faster. Warmth flooded his body.

'No,' he thought. 'Please, not now.' Spasms racked his body, forcing him back against the wall. The image changed.

Jun's body sheared apart - screaming. The leaves of the forest curled, turning all reds, yellows, and oranges before erupting into flames. In the center of the forest, a terrible shadow took shape. The branches and the flames withered away from the shadow's approach. Whatever it was, it was wide and hunched over. Leathery wings, like a bat, stretched from its back and long, curved horns extended from its forehead. It turned towards him and its eyes were nothing but holes, seemingly punched directly through its head because Jin could see the fire twisting through the empty sockets.

He was suddenly aware of Julia beside him, shaking his shoulders.

"Jin. Jin!" She turned towards the looming shadow.

"Mother," he prayed. "Help me. Banish the monsters."

Julia clasped her necklace in her left hand and laid her right hand upon his forehead like a mother taking a child's temperature. Her lips moved and Jin began to feel drowsy. The shadow shimmered as it stepped closer, but somehow ... somehow it didn't matter anymore. Mother was here; she could make it all better.

Jin felt his body slump against the wall. The fire was getting close now. He could feel the sweat forming on his skin as the flames expelled their hot breath at him. It felt like his skin was flaking off and his muscles and bones were melting - no longer able to keep their rigid structure.

"Mother ... mother ...."

Something firm pressed into his pliant flesh. It was icy and had the scent of mint. Julia's voice sounded so far away, and yet as she spoke words he couldn't understand the flames began to fold in on themselves. The shadow swiveled in horror as the light around it faded. It gave one last inhuman roar before disappearing.

Jin smiled. Mother was back.

*** * ***

Xiaoyu had long since gotten used to waiting outside offices while she was attending school in China - particularly math class. She preferred it, actually, to the long lectures of droning, self-important teachers and being with brainacs who were as boring and stuffy of the classrooms they spawned in. It was built into the Chinese to learn by rote - a product of their language and culture. With a language of thousands of characters to memorize to speak and read, there was simply no time to truly ponder and understand. Memorize and move on - what more could you do? Expressing yourself was a foreign concept for most of the students. There was little in the way of recreation for young and ambitious in a world where you either studied or died. A theme park though, that could change the whole concept. Maybe there would be a way to incorporate education into it - make fun and useful. Xiaoyu smiled at the idea and paced outside of Heihachi's office.

As far as waiting rooms went, you could do a whole lot worse than Heihachi's trophy room, thought Xiaoyu. It was the size of a museum wing, with tall glass cases, pedestals, and paintings. A lifetime of collecting and traveling was put on display. Dominating the room was an oil painting of Heihachi sitting in a heavily ornamental plush chair. His left hand rested on his thigh while the right elbow rested on the other leg at just the angle to cradle his chin as he leaned forward. With eyes narrowed and the slightest of smiles tugging at the edges of his lips, the painting gave the impression that Heihachi was already king of the world, he was just feeling generous in letting you think otherwise. Although his hair was already sparse and grayed by the time the painting was done, there was no sign of either of his sons. There was only him - the alpha and the omega. Xiaoyu stuck her tongue out at the painting just for fun.

He seemed to have divided up the room of artifacts into sections based on the country of origins. The first section seemed to be African and Australian and was dominated with wooden figurines with long necks and jutting chins, oddly curved sticks, and various drums and flutes. Xiaoyu could almost picture the aborigines banging on their drums around a fire as their dark skinned warriors slunk through the sparse brush with their spears and weighted sticks after unwary prey. Perhaps she could put that into her theme park. There could be a large field with brushes and trees for cover. Groups of people would be let loose with weapons of foam and soft plastic to have mock battles and hunts.

Xiaoyu moved to another section. Again there were cases of wooden figurines, but these were different. These ones didn't have the elongated necks but masks. One of the figures had a black face, but its snort extended out like an alligator. A collection of feathers were spread out evenly behind its head like a crown or a symbolic rising of the sun. Its arms and legs were thick and heavy looking as though used to throwing large chunks of flesh into its enormous gullet. Feeling a shiver run through her as she pondered what creature gave its inspiration, Xiaoyu stepped towards the next case.

Grateful of no more figurines, Xiaoyu pressed her fingers up to the next glass case. It was filled with stone and earthen bowls and cups with geometric shapes wrapped around the sides. Two knives with blades that looked like black glass angled diagonally towards each other with the tips of their blades nearly touching to form a "v" in front of the containers. Curious if one of the containers was the one stolen from Julia's room, Xiaoyu leaned in to examine them more closely but they all looked the same to her since she never had a chance to see Julia's collection up close.

Her eyes were soon drawn onwards toward the section housing the artifacts from Asian cultures. A collection of clay soldiers, all with unique faces, stood guard in the corner opposite a glass case where a full suit of samurai armor hung on wires so thin they were nearly invisible and gave the impression that the armor itself had been alive but frozen in time. High above, mounted on the wall, two sheathed katanas crossed below a ghostly white face. Xiaoyu squinted her eyes. It was a small, thin mask, feminine in its gentle curves. The eyeholes were just curved lines and the nose jutted out to a thin point with painted whiskers....

The doors swung open and Xiaoyu snapped to attention giving a mock salute to the courier.

"Heihachi will see you now."

Xiaoyu bounded into the room. The first thing that struck Xiaoyu was the light. It seemed to emanate from the floor like a cresting wave swelling towards her. Through the glare, she was able to make out a silhouette rising up from behind a desk like the dead from the grave. Devil horns adorned its head and wings folded down behind its body. Xiaoyu took a step back and raised one hand to guard her eyes from the light and the other to guard her body from attack. Without the glare directly in her eyes, the walls of light became windows so clear that without the reflected light she would have never known they were there. The devil horns became pikes of hair, the wings became flaps of a trench coat, and the devil melded into Heihachi.

"Xiao-chan!" he said heartily. "Come in. I've been expecting you."

Xiaoyu bowed. "Thank you for inviting me to your office, Mishima-san." The formality of Japan was beginning to suffocate her, but there were roles to play. She wouldn't be here - wouldn't have a chance to build her dream - had Heihachi not accepted her into the tournament. Who knew if she would require further favors which she could curry from playing the dutiful granddaughter he never had.

Despite casually waving his hand as though brushing off the honorifics, Heihachi's smile indicated that he was pleased to hear it. 'Point,' thought Xiaoyu.

"What do you think of the tournament so far? Exciting, eh?"

"You bet," Xiaoyu replied giving him a coy wink. Might as well go all out on this one. She ran towards one of the windows, stopping short and making sure that her fingers didn't touch the glass. "Hey, check that out view. You can see the whole western coast from here."

The view from the window was like being frozen at the top of a roller coaster where gravity has spread its fingers and let go of you for a moment. Below the world spread out like tents in a carnival, bright patches of color that led the eye on towards the horizon. The world was a fun house. Gravity asserted itself again when Heihachi's hands touched her shoulders.

"Beautiful, isn't it? This could be yours too one day."

"A theme park would do. Besides, what about Jin? Shouldn't he inherit the empire?"

The hands left her shoulders to hide behind Heihachi's back. "Jin is focused on a task right now. I'm afraid he may not be the same afterwards."

"Why? What's happening to him?" Xiaoyu wheeled around to face Heihachi.

"I know you want to help, Xiao-chan, but it's strictly family business."

Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Yeah, but weren't you just offering me the keys to the Mishima empire? I'm practically family in that case."

Heihachi laughed. "Nice try, Xiao-chan, but you're not a Mishima yet."

'Technically, I'd be a Kazama if I married Jin,' she thought, but she didn't interrupt Heihachi.

"However," continued Heihachi, "I believe someone may try to harm Jin. While he's more than capable of protecting himself, I do not want him distracted from his goal. I do not want him to have to constantly look over his shoulder for a knife. I know he perhaps does not pay enough attention to you as we both wish, but it is his nature, especially since his mother was taken from him.

"There are many great fighters at this tournament, but none that I can trust - except you. Please, Xiao-chan, watch over my grandson. He had to grow up too quickly and violently. Protect him during the tournament and alert me to any fighter acting suspicious or hostile towards him. If you cannot get to me in time, deal with it as you see fit. Panda, of course, will accompany you, and you may make any requests of me which will aid you in this task."

"Hmm," Xiaoyu said as she turned away. She bit her lower lip gently. It would certainly be handy to have Heihachi owe her a favor or three. No doubt any number of people would kill for that opportunity, but watching over Jin would hardly be a chore. She was practically doing that job already, and Heihachi would know that. Why offer to pay someone to do a job they're already doing it for free? Even Xiaoyu's stunted math skills told her it didn't add up.

'Now, Heihachi,' thought Xiaoyu, 'wouldn't do anything without a purpose behind it. What can he hope to gain from this?'

Xiaoyu looked out the window again. If she could find Jin, maybe he could give her some guidance. It didn't take long for her to find him. She had honed her ability to lock onto him from a distance during the months they've been in school together. Over there, in the rock garden, Xiaoyu could see them. Jin was flailing his arms, staggering back, as if fighting demons while blinded. Julia was rushing towards him as his back slammed into a wall and he slid to the ground. She pillowed his head on her lap and looked around as though afraid someone would see them together.

Xiaoyu didn't turn away as she spoke. "I can request anything from you?"

"Anything," Heihachi confirmed.

"Then I think I have my first request, Heihachi-san."


	19. Julia vs Xiaoyu

**Chapter 18**

The crowd had already reached critical mass by the time Julia arrived. Apparently this fight was greatly anticipated. News to her, she didn't even know who her opponent was. A wave of excitement washed over the crowd. The other fighter must have shown up. Julia felt her jaw drop when the crowd parted to reveal Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu pointed to Julia with a look of disdain and gestured for her to enter the arena. The ring was nothing more than a square platform of cobbled rock raised off the ground level - tiered like a pyramid. The crowd roared like jaguars at the scent of prey and Julia saw Heihachi step forward on his dais like a priest over the masses. He raised his hands as if to call the sun to rise from the horizon and the people fell silent. He swept his hand from Julia to the ring - one last call for the sacrifice to die with honor.

Swallowing hard, Julia set her jaw and climbed the three steps that led to the stone platform where Xiaoyu waited. There was no talking her way out of this one. All that remained was one question. "Why?"

Xiaoyu sneered. "Do you really have to ask? What did you think? I would be called to Heihachi and you could run off and be alone with Jin. How could you do that to me, Julia? I thought we were friends."

"It wasn't like that."

"I saw you. His head was in your lap! You knew how I felt for him, but we'll settle that now." Xiaoyu got into her fighting stance.

Julia raised her fists, hoping Xiaoyu wouldn't see them shaking. Xiaoyu's style was relatively weak, but it was quick, fluid, and unpredictable. It was almost exactly the opposite of Julia's style who preferred a stand-up fight. It was a battle of elements: water and earth. If Julia could contain Xiaoyu's motion she could win, but if she couldn't then Xiaoyu would gradually erode Julia until she could sweep her away in one final blow. Friends, indeed.

Heihachi's voice boomed. "Fight!"

Neither Julia nor Xiaoyu moved at the command.

'She's a defensive fighter,' thought Julia. 'Her strength lies in countering, so if I don't attack she may become frustrated and force her hand. The trick is to keep her at a far enough distance to be able to react to her feints, but close enough that I can respond to her attacks.'

They circled each other - clearly Xiaoyu's game. Julia noted how awkward she felt as she moved just her feet while Xiaoyu's whole body seemed to be made of liquid that could flow and crash at her command. Xiaoyu's arms swirl around her body as she rotated and swayed her body from one side to another like an ocean wave.

Crash. Julia had expected it and yet was still surprised at how unprepared she was for the hit. One moment Xiaoyu was out of reach and the next she had shuffled two steps towards Julia rotating her hands as she approached, and extended her left hand to catch Julia in the gut with an open palm strike. Julia tried a grab, but Xiaoyu had already ducked below the hold and slipped to the side to kick the back of Julia's knee. As her leg buckle, Julia felt Xiaoyu roll over her back, pressing a forearm to her neck. Landing, Xiaoyu twisted to her right and swung Julia to the ground by the neck.

The blow should have stunned Julia but instead of striking the occipital bone against the rocks, the throw had been too horizontal and Julia's back absorbed most of the force. Xiaoyu's anger may have caused the imprecision in the execution of the throw, but she could still cause a lot of damage. Julia rolled to the side as Xiaoyu somersaulted and slammed her right heel where Julia's head had been. She was on her feet and backing away when Xiaoyu recovered from the move. From the ground, Xiaoyu glowered up at Julia. Xiaoyu stood, dusted off her hands, and got back into her fighting stance.

Julia stepped back as Xiaoyu brought both hands up from her side - one arm to provide balance as the other one sought to connect to Julia's chin. The blow missed, and Julia sidestepped causing the follow-up to go wide of its target too.

There was a thought that she should be sorry to do this, that she ought to be repentant of striking the only person who had ever referred to her as a best friend, but she wasn't sure she would even connect with this punch and it was Xiaoyu who had initiated the fight. Julia swung her fist at Xiaoyu. It missed as Xiaoyu tucked her chin down and into a forward roll.

"Come on, Jules," Xiaoyu said swatting her own butt. "You can do better than that."

'Don't react,' Julia told herself. More than ever she had to remain stony both to keep from throwing herself blindly into whatever trap Xiaoyu had planned and be able to finish this fight when she had the chance. Julia rubbed her shoulder. Her current strategy obviously wasn't working. Water wasn't something you could grab, but it could be contained by accepting it and then cutting off its exits.

Julia blocked Xiaoyu's high kick and allowed the punch to her stomach through. She tightened her abdomen and felt the impact against her skin with an audible smack. She allowed the force to push her backwards and moved as though to bring Xiaoyu with her. As predicted, Xiaoyu ducked in the Art of Phoenix stance and Julia crouched and delivered a spinning low kick that would have swept most fighters off their feet but connected instead to Xiaoyu's forehead due to her position. With her hands up and back, Xiaoyu was unable to move them back in time to break the fall and basically ended up sitting on the ground.

Although Xiaoyu scrambled back to her feet, Julia had already shifted positions and was upon her before Xiaoyu could bring up her hands. With a short jerk of her arm, Julia elbowed Xiaoyu in the chest before stepping forward and thrusting her right palm into Xiaoyu's solar plexus to drive the air from her opponent's lungs. Xiaoyu stumbled back, wheezing.

"Easy," Xiaoyu said, gasping.

Julia froze. "What?" Julia ducked beneath a right knife hand strike and clenched with Xiaoyu.

"I said, 'Easy.' You're going to win this fight, but we have to make it look realistic."

"Why are you doing this?" whispered Julia.

Xiaoyu shoved her back. "Because of what happened yesterday!" Xiaoyu swung her left leg up and around barely missing Julia. The crowd cheered as the lull ended and the fight was renewed.

Julia double-kicked in the air, missing both, but connecting with a punch when she landed. It connected to Xiaoyu's cheek, but with only one knuckle and without the snap she normally put into her punches, yet Xiaoyu's head turned with the force and carried her body with it. Julia stalked after her like a mountain lion ready to pounce on Xiaoyu's back which was turned. Suddenly, Xiaoyu's legs scissored taking one of Julia's legs from beneath her. Xiaoyu was on top of her in an instant and they rolled on the ground to the cheers of the crowd. In the noise and motion they were able to hold a private conversation.

"When I get on top," Xiaoyu said, "I want you to throw me off. I'll come back at you with a few windmills that you can dodge, and I'll leave my left side open. When you see the opening take the shot."

They rolled and Xiaoyu raised her fist to bring down on Julia. Lifting her hips up, Julia tilted Xiaoyu forward, grabbed her lapel, and worked a foot between their bodies to kick Xiaoyu away. Julia stood - her fists no longer shaking as she faced Xiaoyu. The swings came quickly, but with enough warning for someone expecting them to duck and sidestep. The last swing in Xiaoyu's combination left an opening. Julia shot forward. Her punch connected and sent Xiaoyu reeling backward. Stepping forward, Julia followed up with an elbow to the gut, and ended with an uppercut. Xiaoyu fell to her back. The fight was over.

Julia stood over Xiaoyu's prone body. Very quietly she knelt by Xiaoyu's still form and cradled her head on her lap. She bent over Xiaoyu as though mourning - shadows shrouded her eyes. Her lips trembled and, as silent as the crowd was, nobody heard Julia whisper, "Thank you."

*** * ***

"Stop wriggling."

Xiaoyu hissed in pain as Julia pressed the ice pack to her cheek. Even with the towel it burned. "I thought I told you to take it easy."

"About half way through the fight."

"Yeah, but that was still before you punched me in the face."

Julia sat down on the edge of the bed. "At least it was realistic. I know I told you before, but thank you."

Like Heihachi had done to her yesterday, Xiaoyu waved away Julia's civility but smiled before wincing as the skin stretched the bruised flesh. "Family first, then friends, and family-friendly theme parks last."

"Glad to know you have your priorities. Still though, that's a lot of money you threw away. You know I can't pay you what Heihachi can."

"Julia," Xiaoyu said, shaking her head gently. "Nobody can pay what Heihachi pays. That's what makes him Heihachi."

'Tight fisted with his money and his love,' thought Xiaoyu. Jin never seemed deficient in having cause for a sullen demeanor. Not once had she seen him smile. "I don't know if he would have paid out anyhow. He seemed to think that Jin wouldn't even inherit the family fortune."

"Why not?"

"He said something about him needing to focus on something and that he wouldn't be the same afterwards."

"Do you think he was talking about Hwoarang? I heard he challenged Jin."

Xiaoyu shrugged. "I doubt it. Jin can take him, I'm sure."

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure, but I know that it has something to do with why you're here. Remember how I told you about the night someone broke into your room. Well, I can't be sure, but I think whatever was stolen is in Heihachi's trophy room."

"Wonderful. The security there must be impenetrable."

"It gets better," Xiaoyu said. "The mask the thief wore is sitting on the wall too. So either she works for Heihachi or she's being held just like your mother."

Xiaoyu removed the ice pack from her cheek which was now properly numb. Julia would take charge and let her know what the next move would be. Xiaoyu guessed this is what it was like to have an older sister and wished the "one child" law in China hadn't been enacted.

Julia stood. "Come on."

"Where're we going?"

"You said you trust Jin, right?"

Xiaoyu nodded. "I'd trust him with my life."

"Then let's go talk to him about this. I need that bowl."

Xiaoyu grinned and jumped to her feet. "Seeing Jin before his fight? I was hoping you'd say that."

*** * ***

"Here it is." Jin unlocked the door to the trophy room and waited for Julia and Xiaoyu to enter before going in himself and locking the door behind them. He stood at the door and dabbed at his forehead with a towel as Julia followed Xiaoyu to the middle of the room. They had come to him at the end of his katas and he hadn't had time to shower. They seemed to be intent on something, Julia did at least. Xiaoyu didn't do much but give him dreamy stares. It didn't take long for Julia to get to the point that something more than her mother had been taken by Heihachi. At this, Xiaoyu had piped up and mentioned something about the trophy room which is how they ended up here.

"There." Xiaoyu pointed to one of the cases and Julia pressed her hands to the glass and peered in.

"That's it," Julia confirmed.

Jin pushed himself off the wall and approached. Tracing a line from Julia's finger to the object in the case, he saw a bulbous jar and in front of that a small bowl. While he could appreciate the artistic nature, they seemed rather unremarkable. "Are you sure?"

"I know my own handiwork," Julia replied. "I'm beginning to recognize your grandfather's handiwork too. Please, I need them back."

Jin thought for a moment. "I can't give them back yet."

"What?" Julia lunged at him before Xiaoyu managed to hold her back.

"Do you see those large doors over there?" Jin asked. "Those lead to Heihachi's private office. Notice that the case we're standing at right now is directly beside the red carpet that goes between the only two doorways in this room. I could unlock the case for you and give you anything you want within it, but if it's as important as you say it is then he'll surely know that it's missing when he walks by. Seeing as how he and I are the only ones who have keys to these cases it would be very easy for him to trace this back. It's one thing to recognize a person's handiwork, it's another thing to anticipate it."

Julia shrugged out of Xiaoyu's grip. "So - what? Are you just going to let him keep it?"

"For now." Jin smiled. "Punch me."

"What?"

"Punch me. In the face." He continued to smile and wait.

The punch came quick, but since he had told her what to do it was easy for him to intercept it with his own hand. He twisted her wrist slightly, causing her fingers to open. He slipped the case key into her palm and let go. He was glad that she wisely kept her fingers around the key until she found a way to slip it into her skirt pocket.

"If there is nothing further you wish to discuss, I must leave now. As I'm sure you're aware, Hwoarang has challenged me to a public match and I must attend. You, on the other hand, are not obligated. This way, please," he said guiding them out of the room.


	20. Basic Fear

**Chapter 19**

The dream was always the same. He was trapped in the cabin with the smell of smoke wafting from the window. Outside the forest was glowing yellow and orange as if the sun was rising from the hills and trees. The fire, like anger, spilled out from land to envelope the cabin. He tugged on the door handle but it would not turn.

"Mother," he shouted. Jin banged his fist against the door. "Mother, help me. I'm trapped. Please, don't leave me." He kicked at the door but instead of splintering the wood it did nothing but shove him back.

"Jin ... Jin, I'm here. Get back." The door burst open and there was his mother like an angel of grace and redemption to pull him from the fire. She reached out her hand. "Come, Jin. There's no time to lose."

He stretched out his hand, and that's when it appeared behind her. He shrank back.

"Jin, what's wrong? Come on."

"Behind you!"

His mother turned to stare at the Ogre's chest. She threw a punch, but it caught her fist and backhanded her.

"Mother!" Jin shut his eyes - the image burned onto the backs of his eyelids. Her face bloody, disfigured, scarred and scorched from the blow.

"Open your eyes, child!" Ogre roared. Its hand was around his mother's neck. Jun's mouth opened wide but no sound came from it. Her skin cracked like bark on a tree and exploded into flames. Ogre laughed and breathed in the fumes as though it were some sweet aroma instead of an amalgamate of scents akin to burning charcoal and sulfur as Jun's body was consumed by the fire.

With a scream, Jin pushed himself off the wall and at Ogre. Just before his fist connected to Ogre, the face changed to his mother's. The punch shattered her head as though it were made of ice. The ice merged with the fire, melted and extinguished it, leaving Jin alone.

The world was dark. Jin raised his empty hands to his face. "I'm sorry, mother. I was not strong enough."

Someone laughed. Jin wheeled around, squinting into the darkness. "Show yourself!"

A moon appeared above, a thin sliver that became a cruel smile of eroded mountains and dark caverns and a tongue dry as a desert - the valley of death. Ogre stepped out of the shadows. "Kazama. You have spent the last few years well. I see you have built up your body and your mind, but tell me, how has your spirit fared? It must be tough knowing how you've failed - a shame your mother will never see how you've grown into such a disappointment. You're still just a little child, aren't you? Crying in the corner, beating your little fists against pillows. A pathetic mama's boy who crumbles without someone to hold his hand. A hate filled teenager who pushes away those who would help him most."

"Shut up. You know nothing about me."

"I know everything about you. Just as well as mother did. She speaks to me every day, asking ... begging me not to take you. She can't stand the thought of seeing you again. You failed her. Heihachi has corrupted you."

"Lies! She was the one who wanted me to train under Heihachi."

"As a test," Ogre replied. "She wanted to see if your spirit was strong enough. If you could train under the iron first of your grandfather and remain pure and good. She can see as well as I can that in this you have fallen. The stench of Heihachi's corruption has soaked into your very being."

"Powerful men attract powerful enemies - you're trying to trick me with your poisoned words to make me turn against Sufu. It won't work."

Ogre laughed. "Spoken like a true slave. I have told you before that you are a student not yet above your master - a trait you share with your father. Who do you think killed Kazuya?"

"Sufu wouldn't tell me, but he obviously has his scores to settle. The killer is at this tournament, and Sufu said he'd take care of him."

"Ah, yes, if there is one thing Heihachi does well, it is to take good care of himself. Tell me, Kazama, are you blind and stupid? Who else could have defeated Kazuya Mishima in his prime save the one man who taught him and knew his weakness?"

"Enough of this. I won't listen to your lies anymore. You gave me four years to train. Now I will show you how much I have learned." Jin widened his stance and brought his fists up. He could feel the warmth flowing in his chest - a fire that would not be extinguished. This was for mother.

"Not yet, Kazama. Meet me in the temple." Ogre faded from view.

"Coward! Get back here." Jin turned around, but Ogre was nowhere in sight. He was back in his room at the Mishima Compound. He shivered as a draft of air passed over his bare chest. He moved to close the window when he noticed that it was shattered. His gauntlets had taken most of the damage, but there were still peels of skin missing from his knuckles. He watched the blood trace lines down his fingers like tears.

In the glass shards he thought he saw his mother's face, but when he turned to look at them she disappeared - as she always did when he awoke.

*** * ***

Julia was alone in her room. There was no sound except for her breathing and the beating of her heart. The sweat beaded on her skin and trailed down her face and arms in rivulets. Pressing her body parallel to the floor, she did one last push-up and leaned back against the foot of the bed. Her arms were shaking. She was tired - so tired and numb. Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back against the bed for just a moment.

It was so easy to believe that this room, closed to the world, was like the caves back home in Arizona. It would be easy to stay here where everything was black and white. Freedom from obligation. It would be nice and so easy - for someone else. What was she if she was not of service to others? How could she, an orphan left to die in the wilderness, abandon the very people who had rescued her and given her a chance at life?

Pin pricks tapped along her arms as a spider traced silk lines around her heavy limbs. "And what message do you bring?" she asked it, bringing it to her face as she got to her feet. "Have you seen mother?"

The spider centered itself in her palm. Deliberately, it moved away from her and to the right. At the edge of her palm it did a mad little dance as though it was attempting to dig into Julia's flesh and then moved around to the back of Julia's hand and descended from a thin strand. Somewhere below ground to the north east. Before the spider could finish its descent, the room shook, nearly knocking her flat. The spider fell off into the darkness and disappeared.

"Wait, don't go." Julia grasped at the strands that bore away her guardian. She stood alone. Alone ... she staggered back, her chest constricting. The warmth radiating from her body to leave her cold like undug earth, like an undisturbed graveyard at night. Her breathing was loud in her ears as though the whole world was nothing but an empty seashell pressed against her ears.

A hollow rattling filled the room. It was the sound of darkness shivering, of bones clattering. The figure approached. Thick veins crossing over its body - muscles threatening to burst from the stretched skin. Its aqua green skin seemed to glow. It reached out one hand towards her, a large gnarled thing shaped from pulling hearts from chests and holding them high to the sun. As Ogre approached, the pendant emitted a blinding light.

"Back!" Julia shouted as she held the pendant in her fist and stepped forward. She couldn't give up now. Michelle was depending on her to rescue her - the Hopi tribe needed her to come back with the jar. There was too much riding on her to turn away. She had faced the Ogres before.

A voice spoke in her mind. "You didn't face them - it was Michelle who pushed you forward, who had baked the piki bread to offer them in exchange for your life. It was she who saved you all those times. Not once did you do it by yourself."

The light from the pendant dimmed. "No." Julia shook it, trying to bring it back to life.

Ogre smiled and brought its hand down from its eyes. "What's the matter, warrior? Has your courage abandoned you like your mother?"

"You are not worthy to even speak about my mother."

Ogre grinned. "Apparently neither are you. You don't even know your mother's name."

"Her name is Michelle."

"That name is a lie upon your lips. You have no mother. You are a spider, a small, insignificant creature, born and abandoned in a dark crevice. I will enjoy crushing you."

Julia let go of the pendant and rushed Ogre. It made no move to block her punch, and her fist slammed into Ogre solar plexus. A hand wrapped around her throat and she felt her feet lifted off the floor. The air thinned - there was not enough of it to get into her lungs. Julia kicked out, catching Ogre full in the face, but it didn't faze Ogre at all. It merely smiled and tightened its grip.

"Without the eagle bowl, you are helpless. This ... trinket will do you no good. Your spirit is nowhere near strong enough to command me. Do you know why?"

Julia grabbed Ogre's wrist and struck the elbow in an attempt to break it, but without the leverage her fist bounced off Ogre's massive arm. She was pulled to Ogre. Julia's eyes rolled back into her head until nothing but white showed.

"You are no use to anybody. No fight can be won without sacrifices. What sacrifices have you made for anybody? When were you interested in anything other than how you appeared to others? You've built a sandstone house that is crumbling. Even this trip to save your homeland is just an excursion. It's all an act to save Michelle because you're not strong enough to live without her."

The hand squeezed harder and the white filled her vision. It had become like a film that covered her eyes and when it finally lifted she was back home in Arizona. She was kneeling in the dust, coughing. She rubbed her throat - the pendant was gone and the village was empty. Puzzled, Julia called out. "Hello? Michelle?"

There was no answer. The sun baked sand was hard and cracked. All around were water jars whose throats had long parched and turned back to sand and dust, garden hoes whose wood had split, and a deep emptiness. One of the windows had an aged branch hanging out like a vine that had broken free of its pot but withered and died once it discovered there was no water outside. As Julia approached the branch, it stirred in the desert wind - the arm moved as if to grab her and then collapsed back down.

Stifling a cry, Julia circled around through the door way to look at the body. The skeleton had not been stripped completely of the skin. What skin remained hung loosely on the figure's frame as if the blood and muscles had been sucked from the body. The eyes had sunken like pits made of loose sand. Its face remained twisted in the act of screaming. The white once again filled Julia's vision as the body of her dead mother reached out for her.


	21. Jin vs Hwoarang

Part III: The Fourth Season

**Chapter 20**

"Drinker by night, why are you difficult?

Go in what covers you;

Apparel yourself in garments of gold.

This means you, Night Drinker, our Flayed Lord ...

Let me go, let me perish.

I am the green stalk of maize;

My heart is a precious green stone.

I shall look at the gold: ...

everyone gives to you first; and when everything has now come up, once again everyone gives you your sustenance."

-fragment of Hymn to Xipe Totec, "Song of Our Flayed Lord The Night Drinker"

The calls were done in the dead of night. Like pebbles tumbling down a deep well, the knocks faded down the hallways, ricocheting from room to room. Pants were grabbed, shirts were pulled on, and heads poked out of doorways. Whispers from lips, shivers of excitement, torches led them into the forest. Up ahead, the leaves parted and cave yawned before them. A humming filled the entrance as two tripods set on each wall of the tunnel powered up. Sparks arced between the two heads before the white and blue light expanded and took shape. It was as if a pool of water had been tipped up on its side without the water pouring out. The portal rippled and pulsed throwing light across the dazzled faces of the fighters. Through it they could see a stone wall that had been blown apart. It looked like a disturbed grave site. The fighters entered.

*** * ***

Jin stood behind Heihachi as he usually did. It had become a position more and more familiar as the years went on. Heihachi hadn't taken his eyes off the monitor trained on the entrance where the contestants were filing in.

"It seems like a lot of trouble to go through all this for the tournament finale."

"Jin," Heihachi said, "it's important to make this dramatic for this will be the last Iron Fist tournament. After this, all debts shall be paid, all rivalries will be settled."

"And the guns?" Jin asked, nodding his head towards the armed guards.

"Insurance. Either one of us are a match for any one of them, but all together we would be overwhelmed. No martial artist, though, can stop a bullet. Ah, it looks like they're all here. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Sufu."

"Then go. It is time to make your entrance."

Jin bowed and left.

*** * ***

The temple courtyard was just ahead. Jin could see the light reflecting off the stone ramp that led from the underground chamber that Heihachi had converted into a command center to the arena where the fighters waited. Heihachi had somehow gained access to the temple more than three years ago, although the how or why had never been information Jin was privy to. Whenever Jin had asked about it, Heihachi would only respond with "to catch a beast, the trap must be built to it." Perhaps his grandfather thought something about the temple would hold Ogre when it came. Whatever the reason, it had taken a small fortune to modify it and keep it hidden from the prying eyes of the locals and United States government and it would only be fitting that the last matches of the tournament would be held there.

Jin double-checked the straps on the gauntlets. The blood red gloves covered the knuckles and backs of his hands. Dark metal, like ball bearings, were embedded in the padding in the shape of a triangle. Most people would say that's unfair, but then they weren't fighting a tae kwon do expert who wore spurs on his boots.

He could hear the crowd before he saw them. Their feet stomping the floor, shaking the dust from catacombs. There were shouts and chanting, and above all of them the harsh voice of Hwoarang. "Come on, Kazama! Come out and fight me!"

Sighing, Jin began his ascent. There was hardly time for such simplistic rivalry and he could not afford to be seriously injured - not when Ogre could arrive at any minute. Still though, if everything went according to plan, perhaps he could get through this.

"About time you showed up," Hwoarang spat. He looked over his shoulder in a show of disrespect. "You ready?"

"Of course. I'll have to make this quick though. I have family business I have to attend to."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up already." Hwoarang brought his fists up and narrowed his eyes.

Hwoarang attacked first, just as Jin expected - a front kick, a roundhouse, and a side kick in rapid succession. Jin blocked the first two and dodged the third, but instead of pressing the attack, Hwoarang stepped back. If Hwoarang had learned from their first fight and no longer rushed headlong into battle, he was a lot more dangerous than before. Jin stepped forward and confirmed his theory. Hwoarang rotated his body around his back leg and stood in a south-paw position which gave him access to different attack angles.

'Damn it,' thought Jin. 'He obviously came up with this strategy to throw me off - if I stay defensive he's got me, but if I rush in then I'm fighting at his old level.'

It was a question of how many times he wanted to second guess Hwoarang, and the more he questioned it the more advantage Hwoarang had. There was only one thing to do: simply act. He rushed forward throwing two quick jabs and ducking low to deliver a blow to Hwoarang's stomach. Hwoarang sidestepped and used a front kick to push Jin back before leaping towards Jin. By ducking forward, Jin was able to dodge the front kick but had to take two steps back and lean away to avoid the follow-up spinning back kick.

Both fighters paused to asset the situation. Neither one had scored any meaningful hit yet and while that might have been just fine for Hwoarang, Jin was feeling the frustration rising. If there was one thing he couldn't do, it was to get drawn into a protracted battle with Hwoarang that left him either too wounded or too exhausted to face his true enemy. Maybe that was the whole key to this - maybe he should tell Hwoarang the truth.

A side kick jarred his body. Hwoarang had taken advantage of his distraction and began pressing his attacks. Jin was able to deflect most of the kicks so that he took little damage but the constant defense was slowly chipping away at his energy. Knowing he couldn't hold off the attacks forever, he searched for an opening and found it. Jin scored a strong punch to Hwoarang's chest, knocking him backwards, but as Hwoarang fell he was able to twist his body and swipe the spur on his left boot across Jin's thigh. It was a superficial cut, but the sight of blood seemed to embolden Hwoarang who leapt back into his fighting stance with a renewed purpose.

Before the fight could continue, an alarm sounded from the compound. For a moment, the whole arena full of people looked about themselves puzzled. Jin turned away from Hwoarang towards the entrance of the temple.

'It's here.' Jin could feel the malevolence seeping from the ground beneath his feet, could smell its hatred replacing the air in the room.

"Don't turn your back on me, Kazama!"

Jin didn't pay any attention to Hwoarang. Soldiers began filing into the temple arena covering the area with their guns.

"What the hell is this? You call in your bodyguards when you start losing?"

"The fight is over. You can say I forfeited if it makes you feel better." Two guards stepped aside and allowed Jin through. There were things to attend to. He had to find Heihachi and, most importantly, he had to find Ogre. The game was just beginning.


	22. The Eagle Bowl

**Chapter 21**

"Relax, I know what I'm doing."

'Famous last words,' thought Julia, but she continued to follow Xiaoyu through the carpeted hallways.

Xiaoyu had burst through the side door separating their rooms earlier that night when she had heard Julia cry out. The pendant had lit up again, sensing the approach of Ogre who was strong enough and close enough to have entered her dreams. For a moment after being shook awake, Julia had almost decided to leave the tournament and Michelle behind. Her mother was gone and her tribe, so far away, was depending on her to return with the water jar. What was she doing putting all of their lives in jeopardy for one who had defied them? But then the words of Kokyanwuhti came back to her: "you are the only one that can save your people now. They are blinded, lost in the past mistakes when the devourer of souls had first arrived. It was their own fear that ate them, child. Ogre was just the manifestation of their fears."

Ogre fed on the fears and blood of the people. She couldn't back away or Ogre would only be that much stronger. Julia had to find Michelle and defeat Ogre, and the only way to do that was to get back the bowl and obsidian blade.

Julia stopped when Xiaoyu held up a hand and peered around the corner. Apparently satisfied, Xiaoyu gestured with her hand and slipped around the wall quickly. Julia mirrored her movements. This wasn't the way they had gotten to the trophy room earlier, but then they had been with Jin before and could take the most direct route. Having spent much more time around the Mishima compound, Xiaoyu seemed very much at ease even when breaking into it and Julia was grateful that Xiaoyu knew the way to Heihachi's trophy room and had paid attention to the placement of cameras and security measures along the way. It had taken nearly fifteen minutes to navigate the path from the dorms to Heihachi's trophy room - a trip that would had taken only five minutes when they had been invited and could walk normally and freely.

It was worth it though. Despite the fact that most of the security force would be at the last matches for crowd control, there was no point in drawing attention to her actions right now. Her absence in the temple was probably already noticed, but Heihachi had appearances that had to be upkept. The sooner she could reclaim the bowl and knife, the sooner she could begin preparations for the battle against Ogre.

"It's just up ahead," Xiaoyu whispered. She pointed to the room down the next flight of stairs. "Once we get through those you should recognize where we are. Now follow my lead, don't touch any of the steps."

Xiaoyu hopped up to sit on the bannister and slid down the makeshift ramp. Julia followed. The door opened into the larger room. Julia recognized the doorway guarded by two large vases, one with a dragon on one and a phoenix on the other as the trophy room. Xiaoyu was already at the door.

"Well, shall we find out what's behind door number one?" Xiaoyu pushed down on the handle and frowned. She tried again with little effect. "That's odd. I've never seen this door locked. Try the key Jin gave you."

"I'm pretty sure this is only for the case inside," she said, but placed the key in the keyhole. She heard a click from behind her. Shoving Xiaoyu to the side, Julia dove to the side as the door splintered from the shotgun blast. She grabbed the nearest vase, and flung it towards the guard before he had a time to reload.

Xiaoyu was back through the door they had come in by the time Julia had gotten to her feet. "Damn it, Xiao," she muttered as she got to her feet and dove shoulder first through the door as she heard the shotgun cocked.

"Over here." Xiaoyu gestured from the side. Julia prepared to slam the door closed, but Xiaoyu stopped her. "I've got an idea. Help me up."

Xiaoyu grabbed the top of the door and began pulling herself up. Julia pushed from below and soon Xiaoyu was squatting between the top of the door and the ceiling. "Push the door closed gently and get back," she whispered.

Julia did as Xiaoyu asked and waited. It didn't take long for the guard to kick open the door and when he did Xiaoyu fell atop of him. With one knee on each of his shoulders, Xiaoyu twisted her hips and fell sideways, wrenching the guard's neck sideways. Julia snatched the gun from his hands and as Xiaoyu landed and released her hold on the guard to roll away, Julia slammed the stock of the shotgun into the guard's head knocking him out.

"So much for the element of surprise. We should get out of here."

Julia shook her head. "Not without the bowl and knife. We'll never get another chance to get them." Stepping over the unconscious guard, Julia pulled out the case key from the entrance door and ducked through the hole in the door. She didn't even notice Xiaoyu climb through after her. The trophy room, at night, was a different place than in the daylight. It was as if the doorway had been a portal - the darkness clung to the corners like cobwebs holding time captive. Here was all of mankind's history for view, cultural icons taken from their rightful owners and locked away for Heihachi's bragging rights. Dark figures danced behind clear prison walls, their elongated necks and jutting chins pointed as though to get a better look of their visitors. Empty suits of armor stood at attention. And there, in the spotlights, bright and hard-edged, that cut perfect cones all the way to the floor was the bowl and knife.

She pressed her fingers against the glass. Julia could almost hear the face inside the laugh. "Free me," it called to her, "free me and take your mother's life in your hands."

"Umm ... Julia, we have flashing lights and sirens. If you're going to steal these things, do it quickly."

Julia unlocked the case and took hold of the eagle bowl and knife.

"I'm not stealing, Xiao. I'm just taking back what's mine." She thought of Michelle. 'Hold on, mother. I'm coming for you. I'm taking back what's mine.'

As she put the artifacts into her backpack, Xiaoyu began pushing her towards the office.

"Quickly," Xiaoyu whispered, "in here." Xiaoyu closed and locked the door behind them.

"You've just trapped us in here."

Xiaoyu winked. "Not so hasty, Jules. I do have a plan. C'mon. Check that side of the desk."

Julia began rummaging through the papers on the desk. "And what exactly am I looking for?"

"That," Xiaoyu said, pointing to a large, red, circular button embedded in the desk. "Press it."

Julia pushed the button. Xiaoyu disappeared from behind the desk. "Xiao!" Julia made it around the desk to see the two tiles behind the desk reset themselves and cover a trapdoor. That was her big plan? She should have known. Hopefully it didn't lead to a pit of spikes.

Julia stepped back from the trapdoor. There must be a better way out than free-falling into nothing. The sound of wood splintering drew her attention briefly back to the door. It sounded like security had gotten through the rest of the trophy room door. She'd have to hurry. The windows unlatched easily and since the security system was already tripped she didn't need to worry about setting anything off. There was very little ledge before a sheer drop of about three stories - nothing to break the fall either. However, to the right there was another balcony and window, and further on was a drain pipe.

After checking the hinges of the window, Julia grabbed onto the top of the right window pane and swung out. As the window neared the wall, she pushed off sideways and grabbed onto the balcony ledge and pulled herself up and over. A simple kick broke one of the glass sections in the door, which Julia used to reach in and unlatch the door before grabbing hold of the drainpipe.

The pipe was gritty beneath her fingers which would provide additional friction as long as the dirt stayed on the pipe and didn't crumble as she applied sidewards pressure on it as climbed. She was grateful she had worn her fingerless leather gloves to protect her palms. The pipe itself didn't provide any additional foot or hand holds and she would have to squeeze hard to keep from slipping. If she could get herself high enough so that the balcony sunshade would block her pursuers' view of her, she could slide down when they left to get to the other room.

Voices rumbled in the office. Julia forced herself to breathe. Many people would have tensed up and held their breath, exactly the opposite of what they should do. Her muscles would need the steady flow of oxygen. A person's breath always sounded louder in their own head, the involuntary movements always magnified in their mind. It was the adrenaline that made their senses sharper, their minds more aware of its own position and its environment. All she needed was to keep still.

A dull ache began replacing the blood in her arms and legs. Julia relaxed her grip slightly instead of tightening it. Now was not the time to overcompensate and tire herself out, although she wouldn't be able to hold on for too much longer. Hadn't they seen the window yet?

There. Footsteps tapped out a mad rhythm and flashlights danced across the ground below and along the wall below Julia. "The door," one of the voices yelled. "Next room, next room. Go!" The lights disappeared and the footsteps faded.

Now. Julia loosened her grip and slid down the drain pipe. She stepped to the side and flattened her body against the wall directly below the balcony. Keeping to the shadows, Julia slid along the wall towards the bushes. Once she got to them, her dark olive green shirt and tanned leather jacket would provide enough camouflage to hide her from their initial wild search. She crouched down as the flashlights swept across the ground once more.

"Damn it, she's gone. You. Keep searching the rooms, sweep the parameter. Find her."

The lights retreated back into the room. Julia almost allowed herself to smile. That went as smooth as possible given the circumstances. Of course, Xiaoyu had not thought her plan completely through. They had both escaped in their own way, but reuniting ... that was a completely different question. Ogre. That is what would bind them. If she found Ogre, she would find Jin. And as she'd seen before, Xiaoyu would find Jin no matter where he was. However, there was one thing left to do before she found Jin. Julia set out across the garden.

*** * ***

The fall only took a few seconds, but the trip was made in complete darkness. Only the wind on her face and the whistle of air across her ears gave her a hint of how fast she was traveling. Xiaoyu let out a whoop of delight. This was definitely something that could be put to good use in her park. The world exploded into a deep midnight blue and coldness. Light refracted off something in the distance that continually shifted in and out of focus. Xiaoyu kicked her feet and surfaced.

She was in an underground cavern. Light from the end of a tunnel was all that allowed her to see. With no other obvious exit, Xiaoyu began swimming towards the light. As she moved further down the tunnel, she could feel the current pulling her along faster. The tunnel narrowed, and the light began flashing in thin stripes as Xiaoyu slipped through the water beneath it until it disappeared completely, and Xiaoyu was alone with the water. Her body bounced off the sides of the tunnel, jarring her teeth, as it twisted and turned, the water sloshing violently from side to side.

"Whoa!" Xiaoyu laid flat on her back as the ceiling sloped down sharply. The tunnel narrowed again and the speed increased. Up ahead the blackness turned to gray and then a monochromatic blue as Xiaoyu was cannoned from the pipe to a pool of water.

Sputtering, Xiaoyu pulled herself onto the sand and pushed herself up. A familiar face lumbered into view to nuzzle her cheek. "Panda! How'd you know to find me here?"

Panda pointed with her head to the surrounding area.

"Oh, so that's it." Xiaoyu stood in Panda's enclosure. Off to the right and up the hill was Heihachi's office. This was where Xiaoyu introduced Julia to Panda. Panda nudged her again. "I'm up. I'm up."

Xiaoyu shivered as the wind ran its sharp, cold fingernails over her wet skin. She did what she could to squeegee the water from her skin with the edge of her hand and wring out the looser parts of her clothes, but it felt like the cold wetness had already soaked into her bones. Panda padded closer on all fours.

"Thanks, Panda." Xiaoyu climbed on Panda's back and wrapped her arms along the side of Panda's thick neck. Panda's body heat and fur brought a little comfort to Xiaoyu. "Come on. Let's go find Jin." Xiaoyu snuggled tighter to her guardian. It was going to be a long night, and it was just beginning.


	23. Preparation

**Chapter 22**

The whole temple interior was lit by torches, bringing out the golden tint of the sandstone. Jin stood in the center of the light. Time had stretched out as he was waiting. He felt as though he had memorized every etching on the stone heads of the serpent carvings, the light on the floor, the color of all the dancing flames. Something was wrong. It should have been here by now. Jin could feel it move within him like ants crawling through his veins. Ogre was near, shifting at the corner of his vision, laughing just out of earshot. Shaking his head, Jin wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm and looked around.

Heihachi had designated the inner court of the temple to be the site of the final battle. He seemed so sure that Jin's growing strength would be a beacon to Ogre. So why wasn't it here?

Jin noticed the soldiers were nowhere in sight. He recalled that Heihachi had led them to another part of the compound for "strategic reasons." For such a confident fighter, Heihachi had taken a large detachment of guards with him, but it made sense. The world's best fighters were here and most would be glad to have a shot at Heihachi unprotected. One on one, Heihachi was formidable, but against so many who hated him - even he would eventually fall.

He furrowed his eyebrows. If Ogre was drawn to strength, then all the fighters who were kept under guard by Heihachi's men to prevent them interfering with the final fight would be a much stronger beacon than Jin or Heihachi alone. Either Heihachi had made a critical error in his calculations or he hadn't told Jin everything. Jin began running towards the prison. One way or another, he would take care of it.

*** * ***

Xiaoyu ran the towel through her hair, pulling the dampness from the dark curls. It was good to be out of the cold soaked clothes she had trudged back to her room in. There was no point in getting pneumonia to save a few minutes. Besides she had a feeling that she would be using her speed and stealth soon and those decreased when you couldn't stop shivering or your feet from slipping and making squishing noises with every step. Dressed now in a dry qipao of black silk and sky blue embroidery, Xiaoyu turned back to Panda who guarded the door to her room.

"It's time. Let's go find Jin."

Xiaoyu waited as Panda nodded and removed her bulk from the door frame and padded down the hallway towards the temple. As she approached one of the rooms, she felt the hair on the nape of her neck stand up. "Wait, Panda." Xiaoyu closed her eyes and tilted her head from side to side to locate the sound that had alerted her. There. In one of the rooms to the left was the sound of whimpering.

The door to the room was much taller and wider than the other rooms. Something big had been housed there, which made the gentle sobbing sound all the more out of place. Xiaoyu pointed to one side of the door for Panda to wait on as she crept to the other side. Panda would wait outside until Xiaoyu called for her, but it gave Xiaoyu a few minutes to survey the situation and a backup plan if she needed help. With one hand on the doorknob, Xiaoyu yanked hard, flinging the door open, and rolled inside.

The first thing she saw was a pair of metal boots that looked like they could squash her in one step. She jumped back so she could get a clearer picture of what else was in the room. The feet of the robot did not move; its eyes were dark and motionless. On the bed, a woman was gagged and bound. At the sound of Xiaoyu's footsteps, the woman cowered further into the mattress.

"Panda," Xiaoyu called. Panda lumbered easily through the oversized doors and guarded the entrance as Xiaoyu approached the bed. "Easy," she told the woman. "Easy. I'm here to help."

Slowly, Xiaoyu untied the rope binding the woman's wrists and ankles. The woman relaxed enough for Xiaoyu to pull the cloth from her mouth. The woman's right eye was swollen shut. "What's your name and who did this to you?"

The woman took a few ragged breaths before answering. "Jane. I'm Jane." She pushed herself up and Xiaoyu put an arm around her to help Jane move her feet over the side of the bed.

Xiaoyu tried not to notice the rumpled state of the woman's clothes, the way that the top part of her blouse had missing buttons as if it had been ripped open, and the way she instinctively winced whenever her bare skin was touched. "Who did this to you?"

"The security force," Jane said with a scoff. "After you beat Jack here, I knew I would have to rebuild him or I would be unprotected here. As you can see I've been able to replace his arms and joints but they caught me before I could put in the battery."

Xiaoyu contemplated the idea of enabling the robot. On the one hand, it would be a tremendous help to have a powerful robot to cause diversions, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder, "Is it safe?"

Jane nodded. "He's programmed to obey my voice"

That doesn't really answer my question, Xiaoyu thought, but as she looked at the pitiful state Jane was in she decided not to voice her opinion. If I hadn't dismantled Jack, she thought, Jane would have been protected. There's only one way to fix that. "Okay, where's the battery?"

Jane pointed to the closet and Xiaoyu left Jane's side to open it. On the top shelf was a large cylinder. Her first attempt to move it met with little success. Xiaoyu wrapped the strap that laid across its top around her hands, bent her knees, and took a deep breath. The muscles in her arms flexed and the cylinder lifted off the ground. She felt like a crab walking as she made her way back to Jane. She would never be able to lift it high enough to place into the robot.

Jane pressed a button in a chest panel and Jack legs seemed to deflate. Air hissed as it shot out from the sides of its legs, stirring the bed sheets before the legs bent under the weight of the massive upper body. Lowered, Xiaoyu found that the back casing that opened up for the battery was only a foot or so off the floor. Xiaoyu lifted it up higher as Jane guided the battery into the back of the robot. With the battery locked in place, the housing closed up seamlessly. Gears whirled inside the great metal body. The eyes switched on and with a groan, Jack reared up to its full height and pumped its arms.

"It's alive," Xiaoyu whispered. Jack turned methodically as it took in its surroundings. Its eyes fell upon Xiaoyu and then to Jane. It seemed to notice the discoloration on Jane's skin for it roared and raised its hands above its head as though to crush Xiaoyu for hurting its creator.

"No, Jack!" Jane waved her arms to ward off the attack. "She's not the enemy."

Jack stopped immediately and lowered its hands.

"Whew," Xiaoyu said. "Glad I ungagged you before turning him on. So what's next?"

Jane stepped towards Jack and pulled a small hand held device from the backpack she had retrieved from the closet. She plugged in a cable to a port in Jack's forearm. She typed in "War Machine" followed by a password. "What's next?" Jane repeated. "It's time to pay those sons of bitches back."

*** * ***

"Keep moving."

Hwoarang shuffled slower, his hands cuffed behind his back. The guards were stupid, obviously not have done their homework or they would have been aware of what kind of damage Hwoarang could do even without the use of his hands. It was just a shame that he hadn't been able to fight them off before they handcuffed him, but there were too many of them at the time and he wasn't sure that the other fighters would join in the fight. They would now though. There was nothing like the taste of imprisonment to strengthen one's resolve for freedom.

The guard behind Hwoarang shoved him hard with the rifle, sending him straight into the back of Paul Phoenix.

"Hey, watch it, kid. It's bad enough they're locking us up without ya tripping all over me."

"Yeah, well, whatcha gonna do about it?"

Moving with a speed that belied his age and mass, Paul fisted his hand in Hwoarang's shirt and would have belted him a good one if the guards hadn't pushed him back with the butts of their rifles. "You keep it up, kid. I'll teach ya to mess with the best."

"Ease up. I meant whatcha gonna do about being locked up."

Paul sneered. "What can ya do? Fists can't stop bullets."

They don't have to, thought Hwoarang. They just need to stop the people pulling the trigger. But it wasn't time yet. A distraction was needed.

"Both of you shut up and keep walking."

At gunpoint, Hwoarang marched down the hallway to the holding cells. He watched as one by one the fighters were introduced to their new homes, many of them without a fight. And this was supposed to be a tournament of fighters, Hwoarang thought. Well, they'll find out not all of us will be cowed.

As the guards stepped forward to push Hwoarang into his cell, he kicked backwards. He caught one of the guards full in the chest and was about to swivel and lash out at the other guard when he found he could no longer move. It was as if his whole body had been thrown into a lake of water on a winter's day, as if his body had become a fist tightening upon itself. He shivered as though cold as the taser crackled behind him like ice. He fell to the ground, unable to move, and the guards dragged him into the cell and locked the door.

After the spasms had passed, Hwoarang stirred and got to his feet to the sound of clapping.

"Great job," Paul said. "What's yer encore?"

"Eh, I'm just getting started. There's always a way out. 'Sides, I didn't see you do anything."

"Like I told ya. Fists can't stop bullets."

Hwoarang gave the cell bars a half-hearted kick. They didn't even rattle. He'd jam his leg into his hip before those would move. This was going to be tougher than he initially though. The cells were devoid of everything but the fighters. There were no privacy, no cots, not even a pot to piss in.

He paced the length of his cell trying to block out the grumbling of the other prisoners. If you didn't do anything to protect your freedom, you've got no right to bitch when it's taken away. There had to be a way out. He checked his pockets for something that he might be able to use to pick the lock. He sighed - nothing.

'Think, dammmit.' He should have been quicker in his attack on the guards. If he had been able to take out the guards next to him he would have ... no, that wouldn't have worked either. There were too many of them, most lined up at the end of the room where the only exit was. They would have mowed him down easily before he even got close and probably taken out a fair amount of the other fighters who didn't duck for cover. That was the problem. For all their fighting prowess, none of them put up some much as a harsh word to their imprisoners. It would serve them right to be swept away in one quick brush of the hand.

Hwoarang felt a dull ache in his right forearm and found that some time during his thoughts he had tightened his hand into a fist. Baek's words came back to him.

*You're like an unruly wind: light, swift, but lacking substance. Focus your energy, concentrate inward and become like a hurricane. Calm your center and you will become a whirlwind of fury to your enemies.*

He loosened his fist. It would do no good to be upset about things that he couldn't do anything about now. That's what Baek had meant when he told Hwoarang that he was light and lacking substance. He changed directions too quickly, going off on tangents, letting little things get under his skin to fester. Now was not the time to waste energy, but to regenerate it and focus it.

"Hey, kid."

Hwoarang turned towards Paul. "What do you want?"

"Ya hear that?" Paul cocked his head towards the door.

Hwoarang closed his eyes and attempted to narrow his hearing. He imagined the sounds, whatever they were, floating towards him on waves of air. They drifted down the hallway, seeping beneath cracks in the door frame, swirling around him. At first he only heard what Paul had probably heard - a low bass, like an explosion, reverberating the walls, but as he concentrated he was able to hear more. There was the sharp crackle of gunfire and the high pitched whine of bullets ricocheting off something large and armored. Voices called out and were cut short. It was coming this way.

"Might want to back away from the cell doors everyone," Hwoarang said as he leaned against his cell's side wall.

An explosion threw the door off its hinges and sent the twisted metal tumbling end over end into the center of the room. The figure at the door was obscured from the smoke, but it was inhumanly large. Its glowing red eyes were all that could pierce the dark grey cloud. Gears whirled and a foot lifted up and stepped forward. The robot swiveled its head as though it were an automated security camera recording the prisoners. From behind it three other figures emerged. The first was a mousy looking woman with a black eye that seemed very out place on her face since she looked more like a scientist than a fighter. The second was that Chinese girl followed by her faithful panda bear bodyguard.

"Over there," Xiaoyu said, pointing to Hwoarang.

"Free him," the woman told the robot. Jack wrapped its fingers around the metal bars of the cell door and yanked it open.

Hwoarang whistled. How that little girl beat this thing was beyond him. It looked like it had gone though some serious upgrades though. Attached to its right arm was some sort of high caliber machine gun and strapped to the left shoulder was a rocket launcher. It looked ready to take over a small country - actually it looked like it already had. Smudges of small arms fire dotted its body along with the occasional pock mark or dent in its less armored areas, but it was far from disabled or slowed by the damage. It dutifully moved onto the next cell to free its occupant.

Xiaoyu bounded over to his cell. "Hwoarang, right?"

"The one and only," he responded.

"Come with me. We have to find Jin."

Hwoarang grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."


	24. The God of Fighting

**Chapter 23**

The forest was no longer safe. Jun knew it. She had felt it for weeks. At nights the air was colder, the shadows deeper, as though the forest itself was shivering in its own little corner of the world. She hurdled over a fallen log as she ran on.

"Jin. Jin!" Her son was lost somewhere in the darkness - alone and defenseless against the approaching evil. The trees all looked the same and, for the first time since she had moved to Yakushima mountains, she was unable to find her way through the forest. Vines curled around her legs and arms. She ripped them away and ran on. "Jin!"

Her voice was a tree that had been cut down, hollowed out and useless, a single stump among an empty plain. It was too weak now to shake the walls of her throat, her lungs too spent to push air through the narrow column of muscle. She stopped in a small clearing to rest with her hands on her knees.

"You won't find him here."

Jun spun around. The shadows of the trees laughed. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to pierce the darkness. There. Two red orbs flickered high above the brush and disappeared as Jun hurled a rock towards them. She heard the rock clatter in the dark. The orbs appeared again to her side. Jun faced it and raised her hands. Ogre stepped out from beneath the shadows of the trees.

"I love it. You would fight to protect your son even though he is not here. What hope do you have of stopping me?"

Jun wasted none of her breath in speaking, but threw a palm strike to Ogre's chest. It did nothing to the massive body of Ogre. She managed to step back and dodge its backhand. She placed her right hand on the ground and cartwheeled backwards, kicking Ogre twice in the face before landing and delivering a forearm to its chin. She felt her body lifted up and back until she slammed into the cedar trunk. The fingers closed over her throat and Ogre brought its face next to Jun's.

"Would you like to know what I will do to him?" Ogre laughed as Jun twisted in his grasp, turning her head from its fetid breath. "I shall strip him naked to his core. I shall flay him alive, peeling the skin slowly to savor his delicious screams until he is able to look inside and find the devil within. I shall help him find out what he truly is and let you watch."

"You stay away from my son."

Ogre pulled her away from the tree and then shoved her back into it. "You are in no position to threaten me. This is my world once again. I have been awakened and will finish what I had begun all those centuries ago. Besides, you could not defeat me. How will your son do more than you if you do not wish him to give into his father's heritage?"

Jun grabbed at the fingers, trying to wretch them free of her neck. The grip tightened, and Jun's head lolled back to stare sightlessly at the leaves above. Light burned from her eyes as she called out to forest for help. Wolves howled.

"Your persistence will earn you much pain," Ogre threw Jun to the ground. Vines coiled around her body, and the mud crept up her body as if alive.

The first of the wolves dashed out from the bushes and leapt at Ogre's throat. Ogre swatted it away as though it were no more than a fly. Two other wolves came in from the side to latch on to each arm in an attempt to drag their prey to the ground. Ogre spun and slammed their bodies into trees; the wolves whimpered and slid to the forest floor with teeth ripped from their jaws. Ogre picked the teeth from its forearm and flicked them away. Only the largest wolf was left. It growled and stood its ground even as Ogre rushed at it.

With a short hop, the pack leader dodged Ogre's foot stomp and bit into its opponent's leg. Ogre fell to one knee but the wolf released his hold and leapt back before Ogre could counterstrike. It went for his jugular, but Ogre jammed his forearm into the wolf's jaw and boxed the side of its head, rolling their bodies to the side.

Jun pushed herself up for a moment, straining her arm to reach out towards the two combatants, but the vines held. Thorns began forming along the surface of the vines, digging into her skin, drinking her blood. She reached out again and the thorns bit into her more fiercely. Tiny buds popped erupted on the vines deepened in color as the blood was drained from Jun's body. She heard the pack leader yelp and fall silent. Leaves and dust swirled around Jun's head as the body of the wolf was dropped in front of her. Its throat had been ripped out, the skin ragged and torn where the fingers had dug into it.

"Oh, God." She could tell by the way the eyes moved that pack leader was still alive. The vines, sensing another body, began coiling around the wolf like the muscles of a snake.

Ogre caressed her face. "Do you understand the power of the night drinker? There is always blood, always death, it is the way of this world. My thirst shall always be satisfied but never quenched. Your son will find this out as you have."

Ogre glanced off into the distance. "Ah, there he is now. Shall we go greet him?"

Jun clawed at Ogre, no longer caring that the thorns were tearing away her skin as she did so. Her skin no longer held any color - the buds exploded open to reveal deep scarlet flowers that dripped blood like a thick syrup.

With a grin, Ogre inhaled deeply of the flowers' scent and the wounds on its body closed. "There is no escape for your spirit, Jun Kazama. Remember that. You are mine forever, but fear not. I shall bring you the company of your son soon enough."

The vines yanked Jun and the wolf into the bushes, and all became still.

*** * ***

"Stop that. It's making me nervous."

"Well then quit stallin' and pick a direction already." Hwoarang crossed his arms and continued to tap his foot. He had been following Xiaoyu for a while now through the chambers and hallways of the underground temple for a while now. Now they were standing before a fork in the tunnels, each path leading to identical looking corridors.

"Relax, I know where we are."

"So why aren't we moving?"

"Don't you know? When you're trying to find someone, knowing where you are is only half of the solution. You also have to know where the other person is going."

"And I take it you know where Jin is going?"

Xiaoyu didn't answer at first as she looked down one hallway and then the other. "This way," she said as she took the left path. Panda and Hwoarang followed. "Woman's intuition," she answered before Hwoarang asked how she knew.

Hwoarang frowned as he walked behind Xiaoyu. Everyone knew she and Jin were close, at least in her eyes. If Jin returned her feelings then it was in private, but even if her love was unrequited that didn't prevent her from leading him into a trap in an effort to please him. Baek had been distrustful of Jin for his Mishima blood, and although he didn't know where he got the name Kazama from, Hwoarang doubted it would be able to combat the Mishima blood or training. He was the rival of a dangerous man and Jin's allies were his enemies. Still though, he could use this to his advantage. Xiaoyu did seem to have a distinctive talent in finding Jin - once she found him he would be able to finish his fight with Jin and avenge Baek's death.

"Wait. Do you hear that?" Xiaoyu put her hand lightly on his chest as she looked off into the darkness.

Hwoarang tilted his head towards the end of the hallway. He could hear it. It sounded like something roaring with the crackling of fire in the background. What the hell was going on?

"Come on." Xiaoyu took off down the hallway with Panda loping along beside her.

Hwoarang sighed. He was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea to get between Xiaoyu and Jin. Her endless energy and pursuit of the Japanese might be too much to overcome when the time came to reveal his intentions to her. He would need all his strength and skill to fight Jin - to fight her at the same time was the sure way to defeat. Well, he would have to find Jin first. He started running.

With his longer legs he was easily able to catch up to Xiaoyu. At least they were heading towards a battle, either he was going to find Jin or someone to warm up on. The thought quickened his feet. He ignored her pleads for him to slow down so she could run beside him. He could hear the fight well now and didn't need her to lead anymore. Another fork in the path, Hwoarang took the one on the right. He could see torch light at the end of the hallway. Wasn't that the arena where he had first fought Jin? He smirked. How appropriate.

As he burst into the light of the arena, he saw Jin's body crash into a wall parallel to the entrance he had just used. Jin's opponent had his back to Hwoarang, but its body didn't make sense. It was much taller than any man had the right to be and built like it was made to bulldoze through crowds of people. It was massive. The air around its body wavered as though its body was giving off a tremendous amount of heat, maybe that's why its skin didn't look right. The skin had an aqua-green tint to it. Hwoarang backed away and leaned against the wall of the hallway. The fighters were at the other end of the arena, if he was quiet they wouldn't hear him.

Xiaoyu jogged up to him. "Thanks for waiting. Did you at least see them? Hey, Hwoarang."

"Keep it down." Hwoarang glanced around the corner and saw the massive being lift Jin by his neck. Xiaoyu followed his lead and peeked out.

She gasped. "Ogre," she whispered. "Panda, go find Julia and bring her here." As Panda wheeled around and padded back down the hallway, Xiaoyu ran out into the arena.

"Xiao," Hwoarang hissed, but she was already headed towards the ogre. He slapped his forehead. Focus. Fear was just one side of excitement. It was a battle, just like any other, and that was what he was good at. Besides, it wouldn't do to have a little Chinese girl show more balls than him.

*** * ***

Julia peered at the doorway and adjusted the backpack on her shoulders. She was in the living quarters of the compound which had been emptied out an hour ago when the tournament finals began. This particular room must have held one of the larger competitors, and apparently even it found the door frame too confining. The sides of the door were jagged as if something large and heavy had ripped through it. Only the robot was big enough to do that, but hadn't Xiaoyu taken that out of commission? She stepped away from the room and continued down the hall. There would be time enough later to contemplate the ramifications of a heavily armed robot patrolling the compound so long as it wasn't on Heihachi's side.

There was a soft bleating from down the hallway. "Panda." Julia ran towards the sound and knelt down to hug the bear around the neck. "Where is Xiaoyu? Isn't she with you?"

Panda tilted her head further down the hallway.

"I see," Julia said. "Lead on then. We'll help her together."

She followed Panda through the empty hallways until they came to the wavering portal. As she approached, Julia's pendant pulsed briefly as though to indicate that she was going the correct way. The portal's light danced along the walls of the room, bathing the corners in blue and white. Reach out a hand, she ran her fingers gently along its surface. It was like touching a marble tombstone on an October night. She shivered, but pressed forward. Her hand pierced the veil and she felt as though her hand was being pulled from beyond, as if it were falling away from her and sinking within the portal. She stepped into the portal.

The light enveloped her, and the cold crawled along her skin, searching for a way in. The world faded away and there was nothing but the sound of her whipping hair. She was falling, the world nothing but flashing lights and wind. She closed her eyes as her vision blurred from the tears being pulled from the corners of her eyes. She couldn't tell how long she had fallen, only that she was no longer accelerating. The light intensified more, turning the world a bright red through her eyelids. Her weight seemed to be returning, her speed slowing, until finally she felt something solid beneath her hands. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on a stone floor. Blinking, she pushed herself to her feet. Where was she?

"Panda?" Julia turned around. Through the portal she saw the compound guards surround Panda with their guns raised. Panda stood on her hind legs and brought her front paws down hard on one of the devices powering the portal. The portal winked twice before closing. Julia stood alone in the stone hallway which was lit only by red flares which lead towards a hole in the wall. The other fighters must have already passed through this area. Julia adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and followed the flares through the chamber.

Footprints tread upon the dust and broken artifacts. The first room looked like antechamber although it contained bodies that looked like they were wearing modern clothing despite the desiccation of the bodies. All of the recent footprints steered clear of the corpses. Julia approached one of them. It was leaning against the table in the room's center. The first thing she noticed was the head was missing, pieces of it were anyway. Only the back of the head remained on the skeleton's neck. Opening up her right hand and holding it in front of the missing face, Julia closed it. Besides the obvious bullet holes, this corpse's head had been crushed by what looked to be a huge hand. Ogre - this was where it had been held captive.

Julia gazed upward. Spider webs dangled from the ceiling like a shroud that had been pulled apart. The power of the pendant buzzed in her mind and the floor and walls darkened with the body of spiders. The guardians circled her and clicked their mandibles together. Their eyes followed her and a few reached out their tiny limbs towards her like loyal subjects bowing to a passing queen. A path was cleared across the floor leading onward through the temple. As she made her way through the temple, more spiders pulled themselves out of the shadows to follow her into the waiting darkness.

*** * ***

She could hear the sounds of battle long before she entered the arena. Reaching out a hand, she leaned against the wall. She shouldn't be this tired, but it felt as though storm clouds had rolled across her mind leaving her cold, forcing her consciousness indoors. Julia shook her head, but could not dispel the darkening haze.

'It's just fear,' she told herself. That was all that was keeping her from stepping forward and helping her friends. The edges of the world shimmered and brightened. She took another step and reached out to the wall again as the floor twisted beneath her feet. There was suddenly no air in the world, no sound, no darkness, and no feeling but her chest constricting. Julia could not tell if she was standing or kneeling anymore. Pain erupted in five points around her sternum and pressed inward like fingers piercing her chest. The pain centered around her heart, tightening it in barbed coils and pulling out.

Julia clutched the pendant. It could not leave her possession. It was a chain, a collar, to tame the spirits but a chain must be attached at both ends and without a strong will it would be the spirits holding the controlling end. The pendant scorched the palm of her hand - she could feel its madness. It was the screams of a man held to a stone as an obsidian blade was thrust through his side and his beating heart pulled from his chest. It was the wailing of a child as it was dragged away by its hair from its beaten and raped mother. It was the dry earth lapping up the blood of the dying. It was the wings of crows and ravens circling the battlefield and the pecking at of unseeing eyes and exposed entrails.

Black wings beat around her head as talons rip at her scalp. Through the pain she could see one figure clearly in the distance. Jin Kazama arched his back and laughed at the heavens. Fire erupted from his skin, and the air wavered from the heat. All around where the ebony feathers, floating down and circling like dying birds. Julia swatted at the birds tearing at her body as she pushed herself towards Jin.

Praying that the bowl required only blood and not a human heart to control Ogre, Julia placed the obsidian blade against her right biceps and drew a thin red line. She didn't feel the cut initially, and she was about to try again when she felt a stinging pain as if someone were pinching her arm with sharp fingernails. It brought clarity to her vision and she found herself already in the arena where Jin, Xiaoyu, and Hwoarang were taking turns attacking Ogre from different angles to keep it off-balance.

"Stay back," she yelled to them.

Julia pressed the lip of the bowl beneath the cut. Her blood dribbled onto the hideous face carved within. Closing her eyes to help her focus, Julia continued to push the bowl hard against her arm. Her knees began to buckle. It was as if all her strength was draining out with the blood. She thought she heard the sound of a tongue lapping up liquid from the bowl.

"Julia," Xiaoyu shouted. "You're doing it!"

Julia opened her eyes to see Jin, Xiaoyu, and Hwoarang standing in a half circle as Ogre began to stiffen. It turned to face Julia.

Words came to her lips. "Night Drinker. Devourer of Souls. I call upon you with my blood. Listen to my voice and obey." As Julia approached, Ogre shuddered and attempted to recoil from her. "Kneel and be judged."

Ogre collapsed to its knees. Even lowered in this way, it was still tall enough to look Julia in the eye without raising its head. Its eyes glowered - red coals smouldering in the half-light. Heaving its massive chest, Ogre's muscles strained as if trying to lift a great weight. Ogre peeled back its upper lip to snarl at Julia.

The pendant shone in a turquoise the shade of tropical water. Julia could feel the air being sucked from her lungs and the warmth ripped from her body. It wasn't enough. The blood was barely enough to control Ogre. The pendant was now relying on the strength of Julia's will to command the ancient creature. She needed to put more blood in the vessel or she risked losing consciousness from the strain on her spirit.

Pressing the bowl back against her arm, she made a deeper cut. She gasped as she pulled the blade free, spilling the blood into the bowl. Ogre stiffened more; the arm he had been reaching towards her fell back down to his side. She felt the air and warmth return a little. She raised the knife to plunge it into Ogre's face.

"Look out!" Jin shoved Julia forward as gunfire exploded from the shadows. The knife, when its tip struck the hard tiles, split neatly apart into three shards. The bowl ricocheted on its side, chipping off most of one side's lip, and streaking the floor crimson. Almost immediately, Ogre was back on its feet. In one smooth motion, it scooped Julia up by the neck and tossed her like a shotput.

She landed hard on her side. The pain was sharp and constant, radiating from her ribs where her elbow had jammed into her side when she hit. Rolling over, she watched Jin's body whip around as a bullet clipped his left shoulder. Hwoarang and Xiaoyu had somehow managed to dodge the initial barrage and sought cover behind the stone sarcophaguses.

Heihachi's personal soldiers began to file into the room, firing short bursts at Ogre who roared at them. A man would have died many times over, but Ogre was only driven back from the bullets and eventually even he was brought to his knees. The Tekken Force surrounded the kneeling figure, and only then did Heihachi step out from the shadows.

Julia saw Heihachi's head turn to glance at Jin's prone body, which still heaved for air, but didn't slow down as he walked past.

'Bastard,' Julia thought. 'Doesn't even care about his own grandson.' She began to push herself off the ground when a heavy boot slammed her back down. A gun cocked behind her head and the barrel was pressed to her temple. She laid still.

From her vantage point, Julia saw the rest of the soldiers occasionally fire a few rounds to keep Ogre from getting back to its feet. Heihachi had almost reached Ogre when it suddenly darted forward like a track sprinter off the blocks and grab the nearest soldier and flung him into the others. Ogre stretched out its hand and picked up the eagle bowl, tilting its head back and drained the remaining blood into its waiting mouth.

"Put it down," Heihachi screamed. "Put it down."

His soldiers opened fire but if the bullets reached Ogre, they didn't affect it at all. A dark purple haze surrounded Ogre's body as it convulsed and howled. The muscles grew even more enormous. Horns like a steer erupted from the crown of its head and leathery wings pierced its shoulder blades. The bones in its left arm seemed to melt and the limb slithered and writhed as the four fingers grew together and the thumb thickened until it had become a snake head, complete with fangs and golden eyes.

A haunting groan filled the temple as Ogre's face contorted and stretched out. Its jaw seemed to unhinge as the teeth sharpened. Ogre became heavier and hairier, as it hunched over a pair of clawed feet like an owl's. It opened its mouth and an angry red glow illuminated the retreating soldiers just before fire enveloped their bodies. Torches danced and ran as Ogre's laughter chased them.

Julia felt the weight shift off her back as the soldier looming over her turned and ran. She saw Hwoarang and Xiaoyu peek over the sarcophaguses. Pushing herself up, Julia joined them in battle against Ogre. It was time to end this.


	25. The Devourer of Souls

**Chapter 24**

"Any idea how we're going to tackle this one?"

Jin pulled his right hand away from his bleeding shoulder to regard the Korean. "Teamwork. Box it in and keep the pressure on it by attacking at different angles. The odds are four to one and we need to fight that way and keep it that way. Let it know it's not just dealing with any one of us, but all of us."

"And what makes you think I'm going to fight with you?"

"Because if you don't fight with me now, there can be no fight between us later."

Hwoarang grinned. "I think I might almost like you if I didn't have to kick your ass someday."

"Come on, enough talk." Jin straightened to his full height and strode towards True Ogre as it was lifting one of the Tekken Force soldiers by his neck. He let out a breath of relief as he saw Julia and Xiaoyu approach from the other side of True Ogre. Despite his speech to Hwoarang, he hadn't been sure if Julia and Xiaoyu would fight with them. He nodded his thanks to each of them - he had been fully willing to fight the beast alone, but their help bolstered his confidence that the monster would be defeated and his mother's spirit might at last rest.

True Ogre, sensing them somehow, threw the body of the soldier at Jin and Hwoarang. As Jin sidestepped he saw sparks light up True Ogre's eyes. Ducking, he threw himself into a roll as the flames roared to life above him. The heat lapped at his skin with its sharp tongue before pulling back unexpectedly, accompanied by a cry from True Ogre.

Xiaoyu had leapt upon True Ogre's back and yanked on its horns to send the gout of fire to shoot towards the ceiling. Taking advantage of the opening, Hwoarang leapt forward and struck the beast in the throat with a spinning kick followed by another two to the side of its head and its chest before being forced back by True Ogre's snaking arm snapping out at him. So far, Xiaoyu had managed to retain her grip on the two horns despite True Ogre's violent twisting to dislodge her, but its body was too large for Xiaoyu to hook her legs around. The snake arm whipped back towards Xiaoyu.

Julia came in from the side and locked the snake's head between her arm and body as she ran forward taking True Ogre with her. Besides giving Xiaoyu a chance to leap off, Julia kept True Ogre off balance as she brought it right into the path of Jin's fist. The force jarred Jin's body and sent True Ogre's head back so hard that at first Jin thought perhaps it had been taken clean off and they had already won. Julia rotated her body and pushed True Ogre towards Xiaoyu who slammed the ridge of her right hand into its head and brought her left hand up redirect True Ogre's momentum up and back, throwing it to the ground.

"Look out," Julia cried.

Jin saw it too. True Ogre's snake arm clamped its mouth around Xiaoyu's narrow waist causing her to cry out and double over. All fantasies of an easy victory fell away as the massive frame raised itself from the cracked tiled floor and craned its thick neck to stare at Jin and Julia. Its oversized mouth twisted into a grin.

Julia rushed in to free her friend, but was backhanded away. Jin saw Hwoarang, who stood a few paces behind True Ogre, switch his lead foot. He was planning a big move and Jin realized that he would have to keep True Ogre's attention to buy Hwoarang some time. He shifted his foot forward and threw out a feint jab to draw True Ogre into a mid-range battle where Jin's karate was most effective. Leaning forward, True Ogre bared his fangs and roared his challenge at Jin.

Finally in place, Hwoarang turned his body and pulled his left leg up until it was nearly vertical. The silver spur flashed in the firelight. As Hwoarang's foot began its descend, True Ogre shifted its position and held Xiaoyu in front.

With a sound of frustration and panic, Hwoarang threw his body out of balance and the axe kick went wide - just missing Xiaoyu's cringing face. A clawed fist slammed into Hwoarang's back, knocking him face first to the floor. Jin launched a straight right into True Ogre's kidney but to little effect. Something much larger than a fist crashed into Jin, bowling him over. He found Xiaoyu's soft body on top of his. At some other time, it might have been a welcomed feeling, but not now. He saw a shadow loom above, and he pushed Xiaoyu off him and to the side as a taloned foot pinned him to the ground.

Jin groaned beneath the weight as it pressed down, pushing the air from his lungs. He could hardly move his arms, and even if he could he had no leverage to lift True Ogre's mass up. A claw swept across his vision.

"I am your superior in every way," True Ogre voice rumbled from its throat. "I am stronger than all of you combined." It used a wing to bat away Xiaoyu as one might swat a persistent gnat. "For centuries men have worshipped my power and sacrificed to courier my favor."

"And what did that get them but dead?" Jin said as he struggled beneath True Ogre's foot. Julia and Xiaoyu mounted another offense which was rebuffed, but gave Hwoarang an opening. A solid kick connected to True Ogre, jarring him off of Jin.

Hwoarang didn't stop to help Jin up, but pressed his advantage. Jin had trouble following the movement of Hwoarang's kicks. They went in fast and at ever changing angles as Hwoarang hopped and pivoted around his opponent. True Ogre shrank back beneath the onslaught until Hwoarang swung his left leg around in a big roundhouse. The snake arm coiled around the extended leg and yanked him off-balance as the other arm circled around to come down on his knee and break it.

Jin caught the fist before it reached Hwoarang's knee, but had to use both hands to hold onto True Ogre. From behind, Julia brought her hand down like a hammer on the back of its head, stunning the beast long enough to grab the wings so it couldn't use them to beat away their attacks. Xiaoyu slipped in and attacked the snake head in earnest. Tied up as it was, True Ogre had no choice but to unwind the snake arm from Hwoarang's leg to deal with them.

As the snake head lashed out at Xiaoyu, Hwoarang recovered his stance. Xiaoyu dropped into the Art of Phoenix position causing the snake head to sail right above her and into Hwoarang's back kick. Its eye popped as the spur pierced its lens, and the snake hissed in agony as blood spurted from the gaping hole. In its pain fueled fury, True Ogre was able to dislodge the four fighters, but they shared a small grin. They had hurt it.

Jin took point and faced True Ogre head-on as Hwoarang and Julia stood to either side and Xiaoyu attacked from the back. The trick was to fight as one so they wouldn't get in each other's way, but also in a manner that didn't allow True Ogre time to breathe or to take them down one at a time. As they alternated their attack patterns in teams of two based on where the openings were, Jin felt hope beating in his chest. True Ogre was not invincible and, together, they could beat it.

True Ogre spun around in an attempt to bat away Hwoarang's kicks. It was Jin's turn to attack now. With Xiaoyu going low, Jin pulled his fist back and focused his power. There was nothing now but True Ogre's back and his fist. All the pain, the fear, the anger shrunk down to a point held within the palm of his hand and it was time to transfer it and be rid of it forever. Everything he had cared for until this point had been taken by this monster. Now it would know the anguish it had caused. He threw his fist out.

Pain splintered through his hand. True Ogre held Jin's fist and bent it back towards the wrist. Jin crumbled to his knees, barely aware of the snake head closing over his windpipe. The sound of drums pounded in his ears, cries from Xiaoyu and Julia chased after him. His head lolled back to find the light from the torches were nowhere to be found. He was alone in the darkness.

*** * ***

Julia dove at True Ogre, but its wings had already beat down, launching it into the air. Impotently, Julia drove her fist into the ground. It could escape if it wanted to, and without the eagle bowl she wouldn't be able to able to gain enough control over its spirit to stop it. Xiaoyu screamed up at True Ogre as it held Jin by his throat, but there was nothing anyone could do.

"We had it," Hwoarang said, shaking his head.

Above, Jin arched his body and cried out.

"No, we didn't." Julia looked up. True Ogre was the god of fighting, the taker of men. Within its chest was the souls of countless warriors who had either been defeated or sacrificed to this grotesque god. What could four teenagers do against such a being?

Something fluttered down from the two figures above. Julia wiped the tickling object from her face and watched as a black feather tumble to the ground. She looked back up and suddenly saw two winged figures with horns. What had happened?

The deep rumbling voice of True Ogre echoed from above. "Yes, Kazama. Come out of your shell and reveal your true self. Show me the madness and the fury locked within you."

"Dear spirits." Julia took a step back. She watched as Jin broke free of True Ogre's grip. The black wings fluttered as Jin's body fell. Flames leapt from True Ogre's mouth and wrapped around Jin. His body crashed into the ground with enough force to fracture the bricks.

Julia blinked as the dust attacked her eyes. Through the haze she could see an orange light. A piercing scream rose up and light exploded from the center of the dust. Flames twirled around Jin's body, seemingly without harming him. The wings snapped down and sent him up towards True Ogre. Julia was dimly aware of Hwoarang and Xiaoyu beside her.

"What the ..." Hwoarang managed.

Julia hid her face in her hands. She felt her body go cold. It was loose now. Even if they managed to defeat True Ogre, there was no going back. The devil within Jin Kazama had been awakened, and she had seen the anger that chained it to this world, the violence it was capable of when it had overwhelmed Jin back in the garden. It was everything his mother was not. It was the hatred to her love, the unrestrained fury to her controlled movement, the yang to her yin. It was his father.

The torches winked out, flooding the temple in shadow. In the darkness Julia could hear Xiaoyu and Hwoarang moving to get their bearings. A soft buzzing filled her mind overlaid with voices. A single feminine voice rose above the others. It spoke calmly but firmly; it was the voice of a mother. Somehow Julia felt she knew the speaker - that she had met her before.

"Jun," Julia whispered. Apparently the pendant gave her the power to speak to all spirits, not just certain ones. Had she called to Jun unconsciously or had Jun sought her out in the moment of her son's need.

'Time is short,' Jun said. 'I fought the devil for possession of his soul, but I could not fight his father's blood. Call to him. I will do the rest.'

"Jin!" Julia shouted up into the darkness. She could hear the beating of wings upon the air and fists upon bodies. Bricks exploded off to the side as something heavy smashed into them. "Jin!"

*** * ***

The world was nothing but heat and fury. Red tinged, bloody, and glorious. Devil Jin looked down where he had sent True Ogre into the bricks and mortar. A god it had called itself. Devil Jin laughed. It was no god, but now it would learn to fear the true wrath of god. Light flared from Devil Jin's eyes, cutting through the stone he had sent True Ogre through. Half the body of a snake fell to the ground, writhing for a few moments before morphing into the arm it had originally been.

Devil Jin folded his wings and fell towards his screeching opponent. True Ogre shot another ball of flame at Devil Jin, but it did nothing to slow him down. The impact buried True Ogre back into the ground. Like a god hammering an anvil with the peal of thunder, Jin brought his fist down again and again on the prone body of True Ogre. He reached down and tightened his grip and when he yanked his fist back he held one of True Ogre's horns. He threw it aside and plunged his fingers into True Ogre's eyes reveling in the howl of the pain as it clawed feebly at his arm.

He flexed the muscles in his forearm and lifted True Ogre by its face. The body hung from his fingers like a doll that had its stuffing ripped from its body. Laughing, Jin focused his eyesight. The chest right above beast's heart came into view. The blood behind his eyes pulsed and his vision turned white. When it cleared, True Ogre had two holes through its chest. Red froth bubbled at the corner of Ogre's mouth as it collapsed. Jin leapt away as flames burst from the body.

The smell of burning skin and hair assaulted his nose. He watched the skin split and flake away. Internal organs and fat caught fire and sizzled in their own juices. He smiled as he watched its body blacken and crumble into ash. Thousands of souls released for judgment, screaming as they burned and faded, becoming nothing but breaths of air. They were but the first of many souls. The world was now opened to him in a way he could never have anticipated.

True Ogre had done it all wrong. It had absorbed the defeated souls to gain their strengths, but it had also absorbed their weaknesses. It was not absorption it should have been after, but purification. Those that were weak enough to be beaten should be eliminated.

"Jin!"

He turned downward. Three warriors stared up. One of them was calling up to him - a woman with a bleeding arm. He smiled and descended.


	26. A Mother's Touch

**Chapter 25**

Julia could feel her body cool as Devil Jin alighted. Footsteps echoed, growing louder. Light sputtered from the body of the approaching figure. Its dark wings swept to each side of its silhouette and its horns pointed straight ahead. His whole body had taken on an edgier appearance. His muscles were larger but more chiseled, the angles of his face were sharper, and purple marks like tattoos ran along his body. Julia shrank back as he held her with his unearthly stare. It was as though there was a hole where his pupils should have been and instead of reflecting light they allowed light from behind to shine through. He grinned with teeth meant to rip chunks of flesh from bodies.

"Holy shit," Hwoarang said, pulling on Julia's arm and stepping forward to put himself between Jin and the girls. "Get back."

"Jin!" Xiaoyu cried from behind Hwoarang.

The world before Julia turned blue as the pendant began to glow once more. "Stay away," she told Hwoarang and Xiaoyu. She relaxed her mind to allow the spirit of Jun to speak. "Stop." Jin froze in his tracks at the sound of his mother's voice. "You are better than this, and you know it. Fight it, Jin. Don't you dare drink their poison. You are as much mine as you are your father's."

Julia could feel the pull of Jun's power. It extended out from her hand to Jin, wrapping him in its warmth. Jin's eyes dimmed slightly. He staggered; his shoulders hunched; he clasped a hand over his face. Julia stepped forward at Jun's command. "My death was not your fault. It was a weakness of body, not of spirit. Weakness in the body can be remedied; weakness in the spirit cannot. Do not let Heihachi's teaching corrupt you. You have learned what you needed in spite of him, not because of him.

"Anger is a blade you hold against your own wrist. Don't hold onto it anymore. Let it go, Jin." Julia felt her arm lift and gently caress his cheek. At her touch, the markings on his body lit up and faded away into smoke. The dark wings melded back into his shoulders and the horns withered and fell off. Jin slumped forward into Julia's arms.

The light from the pendant dimmed. "It's okay, Jin," Julia said. She felt emotionally and physically drained but at the same time there was a feeling of fulfillment. 'I have found him,' Julia thought. 'A man of perfect character.'

Placing her lips next to his ear, she whispered her wishes. It was beneath the bed in her room, take it and fulfill the legend. She asked for his promise and his lips moved soundlessly in reply. Xiaoyu and Hwoarang stepped forward to support Jin and drag him away. Julia knelt on the ground, not trusting her knees to stay solid enough.

She felt arms wrapped around her shoulders. "Thank you," Xiaoyu whispered. "You saved him."

Julia shook her head. "It wasn't me. It was Jun Kazama - his mother."

"Through you. Who else would have been able to do that? Hwoarang? Me? If it wasn't for you, Jin would be lost now. You saved him too."

Julia gave Xiaoyu's hand a squeeze. "I suppose you're right."

"Of course, I'm right. Now I think everything's wrapped up here. Here." Xiaoyu dropped a set of keys in Julia's palm. "Why don't you go find your mother and we'll get out of here?"

Julia stood with Xiaoyu's help. "I'll be okay from here," Julia told her. "Stay with Jin. He'll need to see a friendly face when he comes to."

Xiaoyu saluted.

Julia took one last look at Jin. He looked like a baby who had cried himself to sleep with his puffy eyes and red face. There was no hint of the devil that had broken free, but Julia was under no illusion that it had been completely purged from his body. It was a part of him. It was in his blood. But then everyone had some beast raging within themselves. At least Jin had conquered his once. That would make it a little easier to do it again should it free itself. Only a man of perfect character could live with the devil within his soul and not be corrupted completely.

"Remember your promise," Julia whispered before leaving the room.

*** * ***

Michelle leaned weakly against the bars of her prison. It was long past the time when a guard was supposed to leave a bowl of watery food and empty the chamber pot. How long had she been here? She hadn't even found a rock chalky enough to mark off days on the wall. Not that she would be able tell when one day ended and another began.

The room was an lazy artist's rendering of a medieval prison who never got around to finishing the background. Torches lined the walls, illuminating a small circle of bricks that was quickly eating away again by shadows. The dank smell of unwashed sweat only added to her discomfort, the humidity, the enclosed area so far from her native lands of Arizona was almost enough to break her. Even the reservation had never caged her spirit as this place as she languished with the endless squeak of rats, like unoiled gears, turning the world.

"Michelle!" A voice echoed down the hallway. "Mother!"

Michelle tried to shout in return, but nothing but dust and moths flew from her throat so rusted from disuse. She grabbed the nearest food pan and rattled it against the bars. Light ran along the sand colored skin of the figure coming down the hall.

"Mother, you're safe!" Julia pressed her hands up against the bars. Keys jangled from a ring around her wrist. "Here, let me get you out."

There was no sweeter sound than the key unlatching the locks and the creak of the hinges as the door protested Michelle's freedom. She reached out an emaciated arm to hug Julia. There would be time later to eat properly, to sleep in a comfortable bed, to live as she free as she once was, but there would never be another time to show her gratitude - how proud she was of Julia. Oh, how her daughter had grown. No, not physically - it could not have been more than a month since had been locked up by Heihachi - but in so many other important ways.

"It's okay, mother. I'm here." Julia moved to support Michelle.

"What of Ogre?"

"Defeated."

"And Heihachi?"

Michelle saw Julia tightened her fist at the mention of him. "I see. It's enough for now that you've defeated Ogre and overturned Heihachi's plans. Now let's go back to Arizona, where the land awaits us."

*** * ***

Xiaoyu was crying in Hwoarang's arms when Julia and Michelle returned. Michelle propped herself against the wall and waved Julia on.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyu? Where's Jin?"

"He's gone," she managed between sobs. "He's gone. They took him."

"Heihachi," Hwoarang clarified. "He stormed in with a bunch of his cronies, threw us around, and slapped some handcuffs on Jin and marched him away at gunpoint. Bunch of cowards."

"Julia," Xiaoyu sobbed. "What do you think they're going to do to him? They're family, right? Heihachi wouldn't hurt Jin like he did Kazuya, would he?"

Julia laid a hand on Xiaoyu's shaking shoulder. "I don't know, Xiaoyu. I hope not. I'm sure whatever shackles they put on him, he will free himself."

"He'd better," Hwoarang said. "We still have a fight to finish."

Julia nodded. It would be too much to ask Hwoarang to change his ways. He was a man who lived for his own gratification. At least he was willing to stand by them this time. However, with both Heihachi and Jin gone there would be confusion as to who would control the corporation. Perhaps in the confusion she and Michelle would be able to find a ticket back home.

All of the warmth in the pendant had fled. It was nothing now but an empty turquoise shell.


	27. A Father's Curse

**Chapter 26**

Pain radiated from the base of skull. Jin moved to rub it but the guards on each side tightened their grip on his arms. The guard behind who had pistol-whipped him gave him a kick. "Keep it moving."

The transformation had taken so much energy to start and maintain that he wouldn't be able to do it now. But it had all been his: the power, the strength, the anger, the sin. With it he would have been able to throw off these guards like the pawns they were - there would be nothing on earth that would have been able to stop him. Jun was right to drive it away, to lock it deep within his soul. Men should not have the power of gods, least of all men of the Mishima bloodline. He glared to the side where Heihachi walked beside him.

"I must say, Jin, I was initially very disappointed." Heihachi placed a cigar in his mouth and lit it. Smoke plumes came from his flaring nostrils. "I've been planning this tournament for a long time. A long time. All to capture Ogre for research. Do you know how extraordinary that creature was? Imagine, Jin, slowing the aging process, accelerated healing. Medical breakthroughs there for the taking."

"Don't try to bullshit me now, Heihachi."

Heihachi grinned. "Bravo. So the little boy has become a man at last, eh? See all, know all, is that it? I suppose you're right though. I did train you. It was only a matter of time before you would be able to see through what I was planning. It was good while it last though." Heihachi let out a hardy laugh.

"Besides, boy, we found out something new about you." He slapped Jin hard on the back. "Maybe what you've got in you is better than the Ogre gene. After all, you're the one still alive from that fight. All we need to do is fly you back to Japan, get you into the lab, and take some tissue samples."

Jin shook his head to remove Heihachi's hand from it, prompting Heihachi to laugh again. They were heading back through the tunnels to the portal where Heihachi could return to his stronghold. He would lock Jin up, subject him to experiments. He would be nothing but a bug in a jar for Heihachi to pull wings and legs off of in his attempt to extract the one part of Jin he really wanted.

A scout made his way back to Jin and Heihachi. "No good, sir. The portal's been taken down from the other side."

"I had a feeling that was going to happen. Was the helicopter brought in like I requested?"

"Yes, sir. Refueled as well."

"Let's get going then. The sooner we leave this god-forsaken land the better." He gestured to the guards to drag Jin back down the tunnel.

*** * ***

The helicopter was waiting for them in the valley above the temple. Inside the pilot slipped on his helmet and adjusted the mouth piece of the headset. He gestured to them get in. "Come on. Weather's been finicky. We've got a storm rolling in. I gotta get this bird off the ground before we get too much chop."

Jin was hoisted up and pushed through the side door. Two guards hopped up and sandwiched him in. Heihachi got into the co-pilot's seat and twirled his fingers to indicate he wanted to take off.

"What about the other contestants?" the pilot asked.

Heihachi produced a remote control from the folds of his coat. "They can claw their own way out of the rubble."

Needing no further prompting, the pilot lifted off and held the helicopter at a hover over the buried temple. Heihachi poised his finger over the keypad.

Jin struggled to rein in his panic. With his hands cuffed behind his back there was no way he could attempt to grab it from Heihachi, and while he might be able to lean back far enough in the seat to kick it from Heihachi's hands the movement would give him away before he could lift his legs.

Heihachi pressed the first number in the code. Abandoning reason, Jin shoved himself forward so that his shoulder rocked the front seat.

"Hey!" Heihachi still held the remote control but had turned sideways to glare at Jin. The two guards roughly grabbed Jin by the shoulder and yanked him back into his seat with enough force that Jin was able to pull his feet high enough to clear the top of the seat and swat the controller sideways. He saw the black box leap from Heihachi's fingers, up over his grandfather's shoulder, and out the side of the helicopter.

"Impetuous. Just like your father. I killed him, you know, and now it looks like I have to do the same to you. Like father like son." Heihachi pulled a pistol from one of his coat pockets and leveled it at Jin's forehead.

"Still trying to bullshit me, Heihachi? You said so yourself. You need me alive."

Heihachi guffawed. "You heard me wrong. I said all we need was a tissue sample."

The barrel of the pistol loomed in Jin's vision. He found himself staring right down its middle as if it were a dark tunnel beckoning him to another world. Light flashed and in the whiteness he thought he could see Jun smiling as she stretched out a hand towards him. Before he could take his mother's hand he felt his head tilting back and she fell out his sight. No, it wasn't she who was falling, it was him. His hand closed upon the air. A door slammed with enough force to shake the bones in his body, and with its closing took away all the light from Jin's world.

*** * ***

'Deep breath. Deep breath.'

Jin breathed. His throat burned, his tongue swollen and grainy like desert sand. He could not feel his chest rise or his heart beat. Groaning, he opened his eyes and pushed himself off the ground. He was still in the helicopter, but nobody else seemed to be aware of him getting up. Everyone was facing away from him, looking out the windshield.

With a sweep of his hands, Jin smacked the two guards' heads together and then leapt over the seat to deliver a leaping side kick to Heihachi and knock him out of the cockpit. At least that's what he would have done if his hands and his kick hadn't passed directly through the guards' and Heihachi's heads with no effect. He stepped back and looked down at his hands. Beyond his hands, at the bottom of his vision were two feet pointing up - his. His body was still laying on the ground. He dropped to his knees to shake his other self back alive.

They came to him then from outside the helicopter. Jun walked along the air as if it were water she did not want to cause ripples in. Her white summer dress ended at her knees and swayed only to her movements, not the wind. On the left, opposite Jun, was a tall, muscular man who strode towards Jin. His left eye looked bloodshot, but as he neared Jin saw that it was the pupil itself that was red. A jagged scar crossed his chest and the black hair that swept up and away from his face and the heavy, angled eyebrows gave no doubts that he was Jin's father.

Jun beckoned. Her soft smile and the gentle curve of her jaw line was as he remembered. The light behind her brought tears to Jin's eyes as he looked at her. He cast his eyes away, suddenly feeling unworthy to be in her presence. For the past four years, he had trained under Heihachi in an effort to develop the strength to avenge her and yet had forsaken her teachings to do so. Jun stretched her hand to him like an angel offering forgiveness.

Kazuya lifted his chin and looked down at Jin. His hands were sheathed in red gauntlets, but instead of reaching out to Jin, he crossed his arms across his chest as though to tell Jin that he would offer no help up; Jin would need to prove his own strength.

Jin looked to Jun. "I'm sorry, mother. You did everything right - you did everything you could for me, but I cannot be like you. I wasn't strong enough then." Jin turned to Kazuya as he took in the strength in his father's stance, the majesty of fire and anger that cloaked his skin. "And I'm not strong enough now."

With a grunt, Jin pushed himself to his feet. There was unfinished business that he could not do alone, but with the power of the devil ... he could. Some day, perhaps he would be able to rest - to let go of the hatred and fury that drove him. Maybe some day he would be strong enough to follow his mother's path, but until then he would have to bargain with the devil. A smirk appeared at the corners of Kazuya's mouth and he reached out and took Jin's hand.

Pain ripped through Jin's arm. It felt as though his hand were being crushed in a vise, no, more like it was caught between two gears that was grinding the bones and moving up his arm as his body was dragged in. He went to his knees.

"Come on, boy, get up." Kazuya tightened his grip. Light flashed across Jin's vision. A third eye opened up on his father's forehead - red and piercing in its gaze. His skin discolored to the purple hue of an old bruise. Horns extended from his head, jagged teeth danced as he laughed. "Get up. Get up, and let it burn. Let it spill out and consume the world of all who have hurt you, who have taken everything from you. Let your pain become their anguish."

The world around them shook. Jin clenched his fist around his father's hand. He couldn't let go; it was as if Kazuya's hand had melted around his. His father's face bubble like boiling wax, dripping onto his arm and burrow into his veins. The heat coursed through his bloodstream, coalescing within the pit of his stomach where something was clawing to be free. His heart pounded again with the deep resonance of a prisoner throwing himself against the door. Each thump of his heart fluttered the eyelids of his supine body.

In the background he heard Heihachi speaking. "A family of fighters" he had said so long ago, that's what Heihachi had told Jin he came from. He had never mentioned the backstabbers. He had killed Kazuya in the second tournament. He had known about Ogre long ago and had done nothing about it. Heihachi could have stopped it before it had killed Jun. He had abducted Julia's mother to steal their heirloom to control Ogre. Was there a thing Jin cared about that had not be desecrated by Heihachi?

Jin's eyes snapped open and he rose from the helicopter floor. The guards were still facing away from him. He tapped them on the shoulders. The dumb struck expressions they had on their faces when they turned around were priceless. Jin rammed his clawed fingers into their eyes, tightening his grip on their cheekbones, and threw them out of the cabin. Heihachi turned at the sound of their screams and drew his gun. His eyes widen for a moment, and then he seemed to regain his senses and opened fire.

The bullets didn't even pierce his skin. Jin let Heihachi fire a few more rounds to let him know the futility of his actions before swatting the gun away behind him, grabbing Heihachi by the neck, and ramming his head through the windshield. A backhand knocked the pilot back sending the helicopter into a nauseating spin before the pilot wisely concentrated on flying the helicopter instead of helping Heihachi. The pilot pulled the helicopter out of the spin.

Jin yanked Heihachi back through the glass and slammed him face first into the control panel. He would be made to suffer for his transgressions. Jin swatted away a feeble attack before lifting Heihachi over his head and throwing him into the back of the cabin with the cargo. Wooden boxes splintered beneath the force. Jin stormed back and lifted Heihachi back up. Pottery shards loosened from the packing material and fell at his feet. He paused as he drew his fist back.

The shards reminded him of something - a promise he had made. He dropped Heihachi and peered into the broken crate. She had come to Jin asking him to help her recover what Heihachi had stolen from her and her people and taken to Japan. Japan, if he started now he might be able to make it there and back to her homeland in time.

Violently, the world tilted and the sound of engine increased to a high whine. Jin pitched toward the cargo door opening and managed to grab it before falling out. Heihachi had managed to wedge his body between some of the heavy crates. He had recovered pistol and fired at Jin's head. Although the bullet didn't hurt, it jerked his head back causing him to lose his balance. By the time he had righted himself in the air, the helicopter was racing out towards the horizon.

Jin watched them go. Heihachi had many headquarters around the world, and it was likely that he wouldn't return to Japan until he knew he was safe there. That would give Jin enough time to grab the water jar and return to America with it. But one day, one day Heihachi would slip up and Jin would be waiting. He flew off in the opposite direction.

*** * ***

The jar was where she had whispered it would be in the compound. He replaced the floor board and moved the bed back to its original position at the center of the wall. The jar felt light and delicate. Carrying this in the crook of his arm, he picked up the wing tip of an eagle and the pouch containing a handful of cornmeal. It had all seemed like such a small request, but the look in Julia's eyes had shown him that she felt it was a matter of life and death. More than that, he had promised her.

The walk down to the ocean was peaceful. It was hard to believe that just days before this had been the site of a deadly tournament and that one of Japan's most dangerous men had orchestrated a plot that would have given him power over an evil once hailed as a god. The compound had been deserted, probably on Heihachi's orders. He was done with this island and would be moving onto another base of operations. He was a man without any roots, a fungus that decayed the land he anchored himself to. Scape him off and he would find another dark, dank place to attach himself to long enough to allow a poison plan to erupt and release its spores to infect more people to his cause. Jin would scrape him off permanently one of these days, but until then there were other promises to keep.

Only a person of perfect character could do this. The devil had corrupted him in return for power, but there was a part of him untouched by its taint - a part of him he had set aside in the possession. He reached into his mind and pull out the small box that contained the memory of Jun. He knelt in the sand and let the warmth of her love fill him. He had been afraid that she would have denounced him for giving into his father's weakness, but she had chosen to be a mother. She had loved Kazuya despite his path; he had not been born evil, but he had been misguided by Heihachi. So it was with Jin. Perhaps the ends did not justify the means, even if Jin made the deal to live and end Heihachi's bloodline of anger and hatred he was still damned. In the mean time there was good he could do with his power, and as his mother promised before she vanished there would be a time for redemption.

Not a breath of wind stirred across the surface of the ocean. Jin knelt at its edge, removed the wax at its mouth, and gently placed the jar in the sand beside him. At the very edge of the water, he stuck the feather into the sand and drew a line with the cornmeal towards the west where the Hopitu dwelt. He closed his eyes and breathed. To a desert people, there is nothing more sacred or beautiful than water, and so for Julia he envisioned a world of nothing water - all deep blue and sunlit green, azure and sapphire, and the white sparkle of foamy bubbles and diamonds. He saw it as still and reflective as a mirror; he saw it swirl and twist in the wake of tide pools; he saw it crash against jagged rocks in an explosion of mist. Water. Falling upon rocks worn as smooth as pearls, streaming through mountains, trickling within caves, and dripping from melting icicles. Water ... water.

He opened his eyes and the water seemed to swell within its bed. The ocean was alive, rolling and frothing as it rushed towards Jin. The waves gathered around him like a pack of playful dogs. Water bubbled in the sand around him, and Jin dug the sand out with the tip of the eagle wing. He placed some seaweed and tiny sea shells inside the jar. Laying the eagle tip down, Jin plunged his hand into the sand and felt its gritty surfaces scratching at his skin like hundreds of miniscule claws. Lifting the sand to the sun, he asked the sun for its blessing and sprinkled it into the jar. Finally, he cupped his hand and inhaled. The ocean came towards him, falling into his hand. It was cold, like a northern wind, and he fought to keep from jerking his hands away. Very slowly, he scooped the water up and poured it into the jar.

Jin worked the wax that had originally sealed the jar shut in his hands transferring warmth to soften it. When it was pliable again, Jin shaped it into a cone and stopped the opening of the jar, spreading the surface out to completely cover the lip. The ritual finished, Jin collected the fetishes and left.


	28. Blessing of the Spirit Fathers

**Chapter 27**

"I see light." Julia turned to make sure that the rest had heard her. Behind, Xiaoyu and Hwoarang nodded. "Come on, mother, we're almost there."

Michelle's arm was draped around Julia's shoulders, but at times Julia almost couldn't tell she was there. Michelle was so malnourished that her weight hardly pressed down on Julia despite her sagging posture. She wouldn't seek him out, but if she ever came across Heihachi again she would not hesitate to disrupt any plans he had. In the mean time it was enough to have Michelle back and to know that Ogre had been defeated.

The light led outside to a warm rain forest. The verdant valley was framed by cliffs and trees. All around was grass and forest, all deep green like a canopy. Behind them, the tunnel they emerged from looked like any of the other caves in the face of the cliffs. Nobody looking in would have known there was a temple here. Down below, a variety of trucks and equipment waited in the sunlight.

"Where are we?" Xiaoyu asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but it might be Mexico. Maybe farther south." Julia pointed to one of the vehicles. "Let's check out the trucks. Maybe one of them is still working."

Julia checked out the equipment as she walked past. "Looks like an excavation of some kind. Pretty fancy equipment too. Here." Julia opened the door to one of the jeeps and helped Michelle into the passenger seat. Michelle gently leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. Julia and the others made their way around the makeshift camp.

"Not much of a party," Xiaoyu said.

"It wasn't supposed to be. Looks like they were in the beginning stages of mapping out the valley. Too early for a celebration, but they were on to something. I think whoever set up this camp was who awakened Ogre. He must have woken up hungry."

"Check this out." Hwoarang handed Xiaoyu and Julia an envelope. "Mishima Financial."

Julia nodded her recognition of the logo on the outside. Inside were a series of high altitude photographs. "We're in Guatemala." All around them were pieces of her history. The Aztecs once dwelt here.

"Great. What now?" Hwoarang scratched the back of his head. "Anyone else think that we oughta just get out of here?"

"We need to know where we're going first. Anyone able to connect to the web?"

"I can." Xiaoyu pulled out a pink cell phone out of her pocket. "What are we looking for?"

"Embassies. See if there is a US, Chinese, and South Korean embassy in Guatemala."

Xiaoyu tapped out the information. "Mmmm, we both have an embassy in Guatemala City, but nothing for South Korea. Looks like Hwoarang is out of luck."

"I'll make my own luck. All I need is a bike, like that one there, and a full tank of gas."

"Money comes in handy too. You're going to need it to get back home."

"I've got my money-makers right here," he said as he slapped his legs. "A few fights and not only will I have the money to leave, but the local population will be begging to get me out of their town so their champions can start winning again." Hwoarang began checking the bike. "I'm set."

"You sure?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, looks like I got about three quarters of a tank. Key's still in the ignition. I'll be fine."

Julia laid a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Hwoarang smirked. "I'll be fine. You just be sure that if you see Jin again that he'd better start training. There'll be no distractions next time."

Julia smiled at the thought of seeing Jin. "I'll let him know." She stepped back as Hwoarang fired up the motorcycle. A few revs of the engine seemed to satisfy him before he spun it around back towards the dirt road and sped off in a trail of rumbles and dust. He was out of sight in less than a minute as he disappeared in the jungle shadows. Julia listened to the engine whine fade away before climbing into the jeep Michelle was resting in.

"Looks like we've our ticket out of here too," she told Xiaoyu. "Tank's mostly full and they've even installed GPS. Shouldn't be too hard to get to Guatemala City from here."

Xiaoyu grabbed one of the roll bars and swung into the back. "Well, what are we waiting for? I can't wait to get back and tell Panda about what happened."

Julia paused as she adjusted the driver's seat. 'That's right,' she thought. 'There's a whole lot Xiaoyu didn't see back in Japan ... especially when she wasn't there.' She shook the thought of Panda facing the armed guards out of her mind and finished adjusting the seat and strapped on the seatbelt. There would be time to figure out how to broach that subject later, besides she didn't actually see what happened to Panda.

Without fanfare, Julia stepped in the clutch, started the jeep, and drove off down the waiting road.

*** * ***

Xiaoyu had expected her homecoming from the tournament to be much different than this. While she hadn't been as naive to believe she'd win the tournament, she thought she'd at least have something to celebrate. Instead she walked up the cobblestone street to Uncle Wang's house. The hillside was the color of polished jade from the grass and garden plants - a far cry from Shanghai where she had landed. Neither the noise, colors,or racket of the city had been able to draw her away from her thoughts.

She thought of Julia and how her eyes had never left the road as she drove them through the jungle trails to Guatemala City by way of GPS, even as she had told Xiaoyu about Panda. Of course, Julia hadn't actually seen Panda die, so until someone came up with her body then she'd just have to believe that Panda made it out. If she did though, chances are Xiaoyu would still never see her again so she may as well be dead to her. She hoped to see Julia again though.

Mostly though, she thought of Jin. She thought of how the sharp angles of his face caught the light in profile, and the way that his lower lip would stick out slightly in a boyish pout when he was brooding. She thought of the way her face warmed when he gave her one of his rare smiles and how no one else came close to looking as good as he did in the dorky starched and plaid uniforms they had been forced to wear in school. She thought of Heihachi as he had marched into the temple and taken Jin away at gunpoint.

Heihachi had said something about helping Jin, taking him away for his own good. He made it sound as if Jin was sick and that he alone might find the cure before it was too late if given time. The guns had made a convincing argument. No matter how much she now told herself that Heihachi was family to Jin, she knew she had made the wrong choice in letting them take him.

The door to Uncle Wang's house stood before her. She didn't even bother knocking, just opened the door and stepped in, he would have seen her coming from half way up the hill anyway if he was in the garden like he normally was at this time of day. The smell of steaming rice and barbecued meat greeted her as she entered. A voice called from the kitchen.

"Xiaoyu? Decided to come back, eh?" Wang shuffled into the room, wiping his hands on the front of his apron as he approached. "Good, you're in time for lunch. It was getting lonely eating by myself."

Xiaoyu hid her hands behind her back. "That's it, Uncle Wang? You're not even mad?"

"Mad? I was furious. No, no," he waved a hand in front of his face. "Don't bother trying to explain it to me. Oh, I had words planned for you, young one, when I realized your foolishness. I knew where you were, and why you went, but then I realized that what use would all my words be if you never came home. So what else could I do, short of showing up at the tournament myself, than pray for your safe return."

Xiaoyu bowed her head.

"I can see from your face that you did not win. But even still, just having you back from that blasted tournament alive and safe is victory enough for me and should be victory enough for you too."

"It's not that. It's not that at all, Uncle Wang. I ... I met a boy at tournament. Jin Kazama. Heihachi's grandson."

Wang Jinrei's eyes went wide. "Heihachi's grandson? Kazama? So the rumors were true."

Xiaoyu nodded. "You wouldn't believe what we fought in the tournament. Julia said it was an old legend from her tribe."

"Julia?"

"Chang. She was from America."

It was Wang's turn to nod his head. "I remember Michelle from the second tournament. A good, honorable fighter. So what this thing you fought and what became of Kazama?"

"Julia said it was an Ogre, a god of old that her ancestors had once sacrificed to in order to gain strength in battle. It was huge. It took four of us: Jin, Hwoarang, Julia, and me to break it down, but in the end ... in the end Jin stood alone." Xiaoyu closed her eyes at the memory. "And after that, he took him, Uncle Wang, he took him. Heihachi carted him away at gunpoint and in handcuffs as though he were a common criminal. And I could do nothing for him .... I've lost more than just the tournament. I've lost Jin and my best friend, Panda."

"That is the nature of the tournament. You lose a little piece of yourself with every battle. Why do you think old fighters long for peace so much? But come now, not all is lost. Heihachi, cruel as he is, is a cautious and purposeful man. He would not harm Jin unnecessarily if only in fear that he might find a better use for him later. I am sure Jin will survive whatever treachery Heihachi has planned for him. In the mean time, please go out to the garden where a surprise awaits you." Wang put an arm around Xiaoyu and guided her out the back door.

Pools of water reflected the heat of the mid-morning away and a canopy of trees provided shade to visitors. It did not take long for the smells of the kitchen to waft away to be replaced with the smell of wind stirring the flora. Uncle Wang's garden had always made her feel at peace with herself and the world, but even with the cool breeze and the shifting veins of light on the leaves Xiaoyu's brow was creased with worry.

Somewhere up ahead a patch of shadows and light came to life and rose quietly from the ground. Leaves parted. Xiaoyu's eyes went wide. "Panda!" She rushed forward and threw her arms around Panda's thick, furry neck. She squealed in delight as Panda wrapped her arms around the small of her back and lifted her high up into the air and spun her around twice before setting her back down.

"You're alive, but how? Was it Jack?"

Panda nodded.

"A few days ago, a young woman and a very large robot stopped by," Wang said. "This animal was with them. They said they knew you from the tournament and wanted to thank you for what you did. You weren't around then, but they said they couldn't wait. They had a long journey back to Russia, but they left Panda here saying that you knew her although the pink bracelets on her front wrists kind of gave that away."

Wang gestured towards Xiaoyu. "Come on, now, young one. There will be enough time later to get reacquainted with your pet. You and I have some catching up to do ourselves, and that's best done over a fresh plate of food."

Xiaoyu gave Panda one last pat on the head before bounding off after Wang and back inside to the savory aromas of Uncle Wang's cooking.

*** * ***

The flight home was a mixed blessing. While Michelle's peaceful breathing brought Julia a small feeling of solace there was also the sinking feeling that she would have no words to explain her failure to bring back the water jar to the Hopitu. She picked at one of her teeth as she stared out the oval airplane window at the city of Flagstaff and the approaching Flagstaff Pulliam Airport. Perhaps she shouldn't have trusted Jin with the task, but who else at the tournament was there to choose from if only an unmarried man of perfect character could fill it? But then there was the larger question of why was she at the tournament instead of choosing a Hopitu to fulfill the ritual. Of course, there were no good answers for any of those questions. Coming back with the jar unfilled was about the same as not coming back with it at all. By all measures, she had failed.

She helped Michelle from her seat once the plane had stopped and waited in line at the pay phones. The call home was terse and when Uncle Albert pulled into the loading zone he said little than a mumbled hello and didn't speak the rest of the drive home. Julia wasn't sure if it was because of the situation when she left or the situation she was returning from, but at least she didn't smell liquor on his breath. To most people a drive through the Arizona desert was hot, monotonous, and decidedly devoid of easily discernible features, but it was exactly the vastness that made it so special. It put you in your place, gave you something to ponder in its perceived emptiness. It was impossible not to think about the illusion of control you gave yourself over your life if you sat still long enough in the wilderness, which was why most people drove with the windows rolled up, the AC on, and their eyes focused straight ahead as they pushed their cars as fast as it could go through the trackless desert.

For the fifth time in the trip, Julia adjusted the sun visor so she could use the mirror to see how Michelle was doing in the backseat. Michelle had turned her face aside and slumped down in the seat, her eyes closed. At least she was able to get the rest she needed. Up ahead Julia could see the three mesas that made up the Hopi tribal land, the distinctive landmarks to the Hopitu could be seen miles away. Their car had probably been spotted, it was one of the reasons the Hopitu had retreated from the encroaching pioneers to the mesas - they gave the Hopitu the ability to see all around them and were easily defendable. Julia sighed. They would be home soon and she would have to face her tribe as a failure.

They drove on, reaching the base of Second Mesa and began the slow climb up. The sun was high and the wind hot, the mesa top capped with silence. When they finally got to the top of the mesa and rolled to a stop, they did so in the center of the village population. The plaza was filled with Hopi villagers and dancers. Directly in front, the Katsinam stood still and solemn as if they knew she did not have the jar with her. Julia said nothing as her uncle stepped out of the truck.

"She has come," Eototo said. He peered out from beneath the white dome mask at Julia. "The water-bearer returns. The ceremony shall be finished today."

Julia opened her mouth to speak, but her uncle spoke before her. "I will bring the jar," he said before running off towards the pueblo.

Eototo reached out his hand for Julia to step from the car. Julia obeyed. "Water-bearer, you have come full circle. You have left our lands in search of water and have brought it back to us safely. The Hopitu may live because of your actions. You have blessed your family with life. You have blessed the world with life."

The crowd parted and Uncle Albert stepped forward with something wrapped in a blanket. He held it out to Julia. She took it gingerly and unwrapped it. It was the jar she had made and as she moved she could hear water sloshing within it. Eototo guided her away from the crowd and above the stepped terraces that ran down the sides of the mesa. At the top, was a natural wall surrounding a hole that had been recently dug. The hole was deep and must have taken a while to dig in the hardened dirt.

Lifting the jar high, she closed her eyes as Eototo blessed the jar. The jar warmed in her hands and when she opened her eyes, she could have sworn that the jar itself was glowing. Julia knelt and gently brushed the edge of the hole with her hand. It was good to squeeze dirt between her fingers, to feel the warm texture of home in her hands once more. With the care reserved for putting a baby to bed, Julia laid the jar into its cradle in the earth and covered it with a blanket of sand and clay.

"Rest now," she said. "We will call on your power soon enough."

The afternoon was passed in dance, song, and prayer. It wasn't until the sun set that the Hopitu shuffled from the plaza to their pueblos. Julia cooked a simple meal of piki bread and beans. She helped her mother to her bed and tucked her in as Michelle had done for her all those years ago. Uncle Albert was waiting in the living room for her.

"Uncle Albert, I'm ... I'm sorry ..."

Her uncle nodded, but didn't speak, clearly ashamed of his own behavior the last time they were together.

"So, the jar - how did it get here?"

"A young boy came a few days before you arrived. Tall. Dark eyes. Very powerful. He would not say how he found us, but he held the water jar. We had feared when you left us that you would not come back to us and the water jar was lost. Another was asked to create a new water jar and we tried to use it but there wasn't enough power in it. So when we saw this young man with the jar you had made, we could feel it held the strength the other did not. I recognized it as the one you made, so I offered to keep it safe."

"I see," Julia said. Jin had kept his promise.

"What's that?"

Julia traced the scabbing line across her right biceps. "From the tournament," she said.

"It looks bad."

"It doesn't hurt."

"That's not the point," Uncle Albert said. "Wait here." He went to his room and rummaged through some drawers. When he returned he held out a silver bracelet that was cut so that it didn't make a complete circle. It was cool to the touch with an inlay of a series of triangles that resembled a sun. Her uncle stepped back after securing it around her arm over the scar. "A good man will look past the surface, but it's not good for a maiden to have to bear a scar like that."

"Thank you, Uncle."

He nodded once again and they went to their separate rooms. Julia opened the shutters to her room and looked up at the sky. Off in the distance she thought she saw haze forming, but when she wiped the inner corner of her eyes the haze disappeared. She sighed. It was just her vision blurred from her long day. Perhaps, Jin hadn't performed the ritual correctly; she hadn't had time to explain everything, just the basic instructions in a letter to him. How would she face the rest of the Hopitu if tomorrow there was still no rain?

Exhausted, she fell to her pillow and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do now. In the night she dreamt of clouds thick and heavy. They came swiftly like a flock of crows to cover the sky and shadow the land. Like a flurry of falling feathers, the rain fell and the crops reached their withered fingers towards heaven to catch it.

She awoke to the musty scent of damp air clinging to the ground. It was still dark outside, and she opened the front door as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake her mother or uncle. All around, the village was silent and unlit.

Stepping outside, she looked up to a sky of blue steel and a gray that belonged in the beard of a jolly old man. Where the sunlight touched the clouds, they became a vibrant pink of cactus flowers. She ran to the edge of town and climbed the slope to the jar's burial site. On the ground she saw a black feather. She picked it up and felt the stiffness of its quill and the resilience of the its barbs. Opening her arms, Julia closed her eyes and spun and the wind danced around her - swirling up to bring her whispered prayers to Taiowa.

"Thank you," she said as she clutched the black feather to her breasts. "Thank you."

And for a moment she thought she saw a figure off in the horizon spreading Stygian wings against the clouded sky, but it was only an eagle. He was an eagle, she thought: strong, courageous, and noble. He was a hunted guardian, both a symbol of greatness and frailty as people no longer looked to the eagle nor the ants, but only to their feet as the marched on and destroyed the world around them. Yet, despite the devil within him, Jin had come back to save the Hopitu and therefore the world.

"You did it, Jin." Laughing, she turned her face to the clouds and caught the first drop of rain.

FINIS


End file.
